If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll be aware of my obsession with motorsport and F1 in particular. I really love watching the spectacle of motorsport, and I honestly feel that motorsport and racing is so unique that you don't get the same experience with any other sport. I also enjoy competing in motorsport through off-road trials in Land Rovers. I've done a few rally experiences over the years too, and found that I quite enjoy driving fast, and I love getting a car to go exactly where I put it, whether through slow maneuvering in the trials or the fast-paced actions in rally driving (I turned 18 exactly while executing a handbrake turn in a Subaru rally car). In short, I'd love to drive competitively for a career. However, I don't envy professional racing drivers.
This seems quite an odd thing really - kind of paradoxical. I'd love to drive professionally, however I wouldn't want to be in the same position as a professional driver. This isn't because of the pressure that drivers come under - I thrive under pressure. It's not because of the danger - I can be quite an adrenaline junkie. No, it's because of the sponsors.
Tonight I was watching the television when the ever annoying ad break came on. Alongside the usual 'Cash-for-Gold', 'Have you been injured?' and Hovis ads was an ad for Santander, the bank which sponsors McLaren. Two Santander ads came on, in fact. In the first, McLaren's own Lewis Hamilton was pictured standing on a podium - all three slots on the podium were occupied by Lewis to be accurate (the stewards would have a field day!). The second Santander ad (which admittedly, I quite enjoyed) featured Lewis and Jenson Button building a massive lego F1 car. Once the Santander ads had finished, an ad for the new Fiat 500 came on, this one featuring Fernando Alonso (although not, I noticed, Fernando's voice). Finally, an advert for Head and Shoulders shampoo aired, featuring Jenson Button and the worst acting I've ever seen. This final ad pushed me over the edge.
I understand that F1 is big business, with sponsors galore and lots of people involved in the apparent corporate machine. Yes, drivers need to be sponsored to even get into F1. Sponsorship is part and parcel of racing. However, do drivers really need to feature in adverts like those listed above? Head and Shoulders, Jenson? Really? Drivers should be just that; drivers. While the sponsors obviously need the reciprocity (we give you money, you give us advertising) can't they leave the drivers to get on with their sport? This is one of the reasons why I don't envy the drivers. F1 in particular is getting more like big business and moving away from being a pure sport. (Ok, other sportsmen are involved in advertising, I realise this, however I have to point out this feature in racing too).
A second reason why I don't envy racing drivers was highlighted when I went to the Nurburgring. During my trip to the Nurburgring I attended a pit walk and an autograph session. I also watched the drivers' parade before the race. Now, I had a choice whether to attend these events. I sense the drivers are more limited in their free will. Fair enough, I'm guessing the drivers understand that they have to meet fans, but would I want to walk out to hoards of people screaming my name and hounding me for a signature every single working weekend? I'm not so sure.
A third reason became apparent today on Twitter. The usual suspects were in attendance at Monza, and so for people who are slightly addicted to Twitter we got an interesting insight into a Thursday on a race weekend. Loads of Twitter/F1 people were posting pictures of the media sessions on a Thursday, and it made me realise how many interviews, press conferences and general publicity sessions that the drivers have to go to. F1 is a team sport, however you rarely see the mechanics giving interviews - the drivers are the ones who face the questions. Would I enjoy my every move being questioned a hundred times over by different journalists? I doubt it.
So, on a race weekend a driver has to answer a never ending barrage of questions and meet their adoring (and at times, crazy) public. When not racing, they have to please the sponsors and become the face of a brand - be that Fiat, Santander or, indeed, Head and Shoulders. However, that's not all.
Last weekend I took an unexpected trip to Cardiff to watch the Red Bull Speed Jam for which I won tickets. In attendance were Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo. It was their weekend off, however they were still being made to get back to the day job and entertain us. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. However, it does seem a bit much for the drivers to have to drive around and show off when they're not actually racing. You wonder how much choice a driver has in this matter. No doubt they enjoy the actual driving - if they didn't then they wouldn't be in that career - but do they enjoy having to go to these events? If someone went up to Mark Webber and said 'you have to drive this car round this place at this time and go and sign a hundred-odd autographs', would he be that willing? I doubt I would be, and that's another reason why I wouldn't envy the drivers.
Showing posts with label Driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Driving. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Monday, 13 June 2011
It's Health and Safety Gone Mad!
I'm hoping most of my readership would have seen the thriller of a race which we were treated to yesterday. If not, go to the BBC iPlayer right now and watch it. I promise you won't be disappointed.
I think I spent more time watching F1 than any other point in my past. The BBC's coverage started at 5, and at 10:30 I was still sat in my Red Bull shirt and hat watching it. No, the F1 Forum didn't go on for an exceptionally long time, but the rain meant that we had a whole two hours mid-race where nothing was happening. Congratulations to David Coulthard and Martin Brundle for keeping us entertained for that long while the cars were sat stationary underneath their covers. If you're new to F1 you might be wondering why a bit of rain halted play for so long. Well, it's all a question of safety. It's common sense that you don't want drivers going around a circuit at high speed when the track has absolutely no grip, and when the walls could mean a driver is injured should they push too hard during these states. It's also no good to make the drivers just go slower - F1 cars are designed to operate at high speeds, so while other forms of racing could just take things a bit easier in the wet this isn't the best option for F1. So, yesterday's racing was interrupted for perhaps the longest period I can remember.
Now, there's a lot of debate whether this was the right thing to do or not. We haven't had a single wet race this season - something which has kind of disappointed me as I love watching wet races (however, the Nurburgring has to stay dry for my sake when I'll be staying in a tent). We all knew that Montreal carried the risk of rain, and so on Sunday when it was rainy I'm sure a lot of fans thought that we were in for a brilliant start. However, the race started behind the safety car. This was an interesting move - we've seen races previously where conditions have been worse and the cars were allowed to start as usual. The general consensus was that race control pre-empted incidents, and so were keen to prevent anything from happening. This is a smart move on one hand - injuries and risks are kept to a minimum. However, this isn't racing. If conditions were so bad that the race took place behind a safety car I would have preferred them not to start it at all and wait for the circuit to improve. Eventually though the safety car went in and we got around ten laps of actual racing.
During this time it has to be said that Lewis Hamilton had an absolute shocker. He overtook Mark Webber and sent him spinning, he went to overtake his team mate Jenson Button and the two ended up colliding. This eventually led to him stopping on track as his suspension suffered damage. Because of Lewis's stop on track, we got yet another safety car, and eventually the race was red flagged due to the weather. You have to wonder about Lewis Hamilton this year. He's being much more aggressive and punchy with his overtaking, as if expecting people just to make way for him. I respect that he's a racing driver at heart, however at the moment he seems to struggle to stay out of trouble. Whether it's due to frustration or not I don't know, but I think that he has to get his act together a little bit more, get his head down and return to the old Lewis of a few years ago - the supreme racer, not the bumper car King.
The two hours of waiting for the race to restart after the red flags was agony for the fans. We were all expecting that the race would be called off, as in Malaysia a few years ago. However, race control assured everyone that the race would not be cancelled until it got dark. Unfortunately for UK viewers, this could have been any time up until the very late night and so people began to speculate whether coverage would continue. Luckily, the rain eased up and the race was restarted under the safety car.
Once the safety car went in (after what was quite an extended period I felt - you have to wonder whether Bernd Maylander was getting his money's worth or whether it was a real issue of safety or not) we were treated to some awesome racing. The final five laps were perhaps the best I've seen all year. Michael Schumacher managed a commendable fourth place, and was even in with a shot at the podium. This was to my immense delight, as I now feel the media can stop with the endless torrent of criticism that has been facing Michael all year. While Michael Schumacher was easily going to be my driver of the day, Jenson Button changed all that. After one of many safety car periods Jenson was running stone dead last, and nobody thought that Vettel could be caught at the front (indeed, Sebastian seems to be king of the restarts this year). However, Jenson came through the field and eventually caught Sebastian on the very last part of the final lap in what was some beautiful driving. It was definitely his best career win, and as much as I admire Sebastian and congratulate him for leading all but half a lap of the race I have to say that Jenson deserved that win.
undriveable then bring the safety car out or stop the race. If a circuit is too wet to drive on then simply don't start the race at all. I loved the race yesterday, but I feel cheated of a proper start. Whether this happens again remains to be seen at the next wet race. So long as the Nurburgring is dry, I await the next one with bated breath.
I think I spent more time watching F1 than any other point in my past. The BBC's coverage started at 5, and at 10:30 I was still sat in my Red Bull shirt and hat watching it. No, the F1 Forum didn't go on for an exceptionally long time, but the rain meant that we had a whole two hours mid-race where nothing was happening. Congratulations to David Coulthard and Martin Brundle for keeping us entertained for that long while the cars were sat stationary underneath their covers. If you're new to F1 you might be wondering why a bit of rain halted play for so long. Well, it's all a question of safety. It's common sense that you don't want drivers going around a circuit at high speed when the track has absolutely no grip, and when the walls could mean a driver is injured should they push too hard during these states. It's also no good to make the drivers just go slower - F1 cars are designed to operate at high speeds, so while other forms of racing could just take things a bit easier in the wet this isn't the best option for F1. So, yesterday's racing was interrupted for perhaps the longest period I can remember.
Now, there's a lot of debate whether this was the right thing to do or not. We haven't had a single wet race this season - something which has kind of disappointed me as I love watching wet races (however, the Nurburgring has to stay dry for my sake when I'll be staying in a tent). We all knew that Montreal carried the risk of rain, and so on Sunday when it was rainy I'm sure a lot of fans thought that we were in for a brilliant start. However, the race started behind the safety car. This was an interesting move - we've seen races previously where conditions have been worse and the cars were allowed to start as usual. The general consensus was that race control pre-empted incidents, and so were keen to prevent anything from happening. This is a smart move on one hand - injuries and risks are kept to a minimum. However, this isn't racing. If conditions were so bad that the race took place behind a safety car I would have preferred them not to start it at all and wait for the circuit to improve. Eventually though the safety car went in and we got around ten laps of actual racing.
During this time it has to be said that Lewis Hamilton had an absolute shocker. He overtook Mark Webber and sent him spinning, he went to overtake his team mate Jenson Button and the two ended up colliding. This eventually led to him stopping on track as his suspension suffered damage. Because of Lewis's stop on track, we got yet another safety car, and eventually the race was red flagged due to the weather. You have to wonder about Lewis Hamilton this year. He's being much more aggressive and punchy with his overtaking, as if expecting people just to make way for him. I respect that he's a racing driver at heart, however at the moment he seems to struggle to stay out of trouble. Whether it's due to frustration or not I don't know, but I think that he has to get his act together a little bit more, get his head down and return to the old Lewis of a few years ago - the supreme racer, not the bumper car King.
The two hours of waiting for the race to restart after the red flags was agony for the fans. We were all expecting that the race would be called off, as in Malaysia a few years ago. However, race control assured everyone that the race would not be cancelled until it got dark. Unfortunately for UK viewers, this could have been any time up until the very late night and so people began to speculate whether coverage would continue. Luckily, the rain eased up and the race was restarted under the safety car.
Once the safety car went in (after what was quite an extended period I felt - you have to wonder whether Bernd Maylander was getting his money's worth or whether it was a real issue of safety or not) we were treated to some awesome racing. The final five laps were perhaps the best I've seen all year. Michael Schumacher managed a commendable fourth place, and was even in with a shot at the podium. This was to my immense delight, as I now feel the media can stop with the endless torrent of criticism that has been facing Michael all year. While Michael Schumacher was easily going to be my driver of the day, Jenson Button changed all that. After one of many safety car periods Jenson was running stone dead last, and nobody thought that Vettel could be caught at the front (indeed, Sebastian seems to be king of the restarts this year). However, Jenson came through the field and eventually caught Sebastian on the very last part of the final lap in what was some beautiful driving. It was definitely his best career win, and as much as I admire Sebastian and congratulate him for leading all but half a lap of the race I have to say that Jenson deserved that win.
undriveable then bring the safety car out or stop the race. If a circuit is too wet to drive on then simply don't start the race at all. I loved the race yesterday, but I feel cheated of a proper start. Whether this happens again remains to be seen at the next wet race. So long as the Nurburgring is dry, I await the next one with bated breath.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Motor Racing is Really Boring... Unless There's a Crash!
Last night I was watching the F1 practice session while my sister was over for a family gathering. It was all lovely, and then my sister said something that really gets my back up: "Let's face it, it's not that interesting unless somebody crashes". I hate this. I hate it when people watch races to see people crash. Now, it's not my sister's fault - she doesn't watch motorsport at all - but I want to outline why exactly I hate this point of view, and why people should find motorsport interesting without incidents occurring.
Every time anyone gets a ticket to go and watch a motorsport event there's a warning on the ticket saying 'Motorsport is dangerous'. On most occasions, there's little risk to a spectator but the warning is fair nonetheless. Motorsport IS dangerous - and perhaps the greatest risk is for those inside the cars or in close contact with them at least. I really don't like watching people crash in races. My first thought is always for the driver and their safety. At the last F1 race in Monaco I waited with bated breath to hear whether Perez was ok, as it was horrible watching the extraction procedures with the screens covering the car. Thankfully, Perez was alright and it's a tribute to how far F1 has come in terms of driver safety. So while we can be content in the knowledge that a driver's likely to be safe during an F1 race there's still a risk of serious injury - just look at Massa in Hungary. In other disciplines of motorsport there's a higher risk: Kubica's rally accident which left him out of the F1 season so far being an example. This is precisely why I dislike people watching races for the crashes - there's a real chance of serious injury for the drivers, and people shouldn't be willing an incident to happen.
However, I can see why people have this view. Motorsport is a balancing act. To get the fastest car, you have to have it right on its limits. Accidents happen because a driver's gone past this limit. While (hopefully) most of us spectators are watching races hoping that drivers get to the limit, but not beyond it, some people (particularly those who don't know much about the sport) cross the line and hope to see drivers going past these limits. It's here where the accidents and injuries lie. I honestly think that people who watch races for crashes don't have much knowledge of the risks involved. F1 is so safe that serious injuries rarely occur, and so people don't necessarily remember the 2/3 chance of dying during a race many years ago. Ok, it's a testament to those who campaigned to change those odds that people think F1 is perhaps safe enough to be able to "enjoy" accidents, but we shouldn't forget that there are still risks which could lead to death. This was one of the reasons why I wanted more people to see the Senna movie - people would realise that motorsport isn't all that safe and when things go wrong there are occasionally serious consequences.
So, if you're one of those people who does watch motorsport for the accidents then I hope you realise that it's not nice to wish someone would have the risk of serious injury or death. You should watch F1 and other sports for the racing - not for the crashes. It's much more fun to watch two drivers battling for position in close races than it is to watch a driver being pulled from a car and taken to hospital. It's also much more interesting watching a driver push his car to the very limit of its capabilities, rather than watching him spin off in a cloud of dust. Yes, accidents will happen, but they're not the reason why you should watch races.
Every time anyone gets a ticket to go and watch a motorsport event there's a warning on the ticket saying 'Motorsport is dangerous'. On most occasions, there's little risk to a spectator but the warning is fair nonetheless. Motorsport IS dangerous - and perhaps the greatest risk is for those inside the cars or in close contact with them at least. I really don't like watching people crash in races. My first thought is always for the driver and their safety. At the last F1 race in Monaco I waited with bated breath to hear whether Perez was ok, as it was horrible watching the extraction procedures with the screens covering the car. Thankfully, Perez was alright and it's a tribute to how far F1 has come in terms of driver safety. So while we can be content in the knowledge that a driver's likely to be safe during an F1 race there's still a risk of serious injury - just look at Massa in Hungary. In other disciplines of motorsport there's a higher risk: Kubica's rally accident which left him out of the F1 season so far being an example. This is precisely why I dislike people watching races for the crashes - there's a real chance of serious injury for the drivers, and people shouldn't be willing an incident to happen.
However, I can see why people have this view. Motorsport is a balancing act. To get the fastest car, you have to have it right on its limits. Accidents happen because a driver's gone past this limit. While (hopefully) most of us spectators are watching races hoping that drivers get to the limit, but not beyond it, some people (particularly those who don't know much about the sport) cross the line and hope to see drivers going past these limits. It's here where the accidents and injuries lie. I honestly think that people who watch races for crashes don't have much knowledge of the risks involved. F1 is so safe that serious injuries rarely occur, and so people don't necessarily remember the 2/3 chance of dying during a race many years ago. Ok, it's a testament to those who campaigned to change those odds that people think F1 is perhaps safe enough to be able to "enjoy" accidents, but we shouldn't forget that there are still risks which could lead to death. This was one of the reasons why I wanted more people to see the Senna movie - people would realise that motorsport isn't all that safe and when things go wrong there are occasionally serious consequences.
So, if you're one of those people who does watch motorsport for the accidents then I hope you realise that it's not nice to wish someone would have the risk of serious injury or death. You should watch F1 and other sports for the racing - not for the crashes. It's much more fun to watch two drivers battling for position in close races than it is to watch a driver being pulled from a car and taken to hospital. It's also much more interesting watching a driver push his car to the very limit of its capabilities, rather than watching him spin off in a cloud of dust. Yes, accidents will happen, but they're not the reason why you should watch races.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
A Report from Spain!
I sit here straight after the Spanish Grand Prix with mega hat hair from my Red Bull team wear after making the decision to write an F1 weekend report!
Friday saw the start of the grand prix weekend with the traditional practice sessions. As usual, the staus quo remained with Mark Webber setting the pace in both sessions. To my immense joy, I got a mention on the practice!! The mention stemmed from my views on Michael Schumacher, which you can read on this blog. As ever, David Croft and Maurice Hamilton were talking in FP1 about Schumacher's performance, stating that this was his worst start in 17 seasons. The reasons for this were the usual that he was too old. Now, I've got fed up of hearing about this and sent messages to 5 Live F1, Crofty and Maurice Hamilton basically arguing to leave Schumi alone. David Croft sent me a message back asking whether they were too hard on Schumi and whether it was worth discussing. I responded by arguing that yes, it's worth discussing his performance but no, it's not worth it if all that is questioned is Schumi's age as Barichello isn't that much younger and has had a similarly dismal start. In FP2, this debate was brought up and the general consensus was that yes, Schumacher has had a bad start to this year, but no, it's not that disastrous and that age shouldn't really come into it. My Twitter username (MooEvilBoffin) was then read out - to my immense joy! As soon as the video is uploaded to Youtube it'll get posted here. You can also check out the practice session on the iPlayer.
Saturday's practice session saw Sebastian Vettel only completing six laps - only one of which was timed. However, did that stop Seb? Nope! Fastest on just one lap for another Red Bull result. Of course, the practice sessions don't count for all that much - we don't know fuel loads etc., so we can't judge what the real pace is until qualifying. The big news in qualifying was that Team Lotus managed to get through to quali two. When this happened, people questioned whether Heikki Kovalainen would bother to actually run in the second session, but rather save a set of tyres. This argument was put forth as it was unlikely that Heikki would get higher than 17th. Nevertheless, Lotus decided to have a go - and it paid off with Heikki qualifying 15th! As for the rest of the field, Mark Webber managed to break Sebastian Vettel's pole position streak and beat Seb by two-tenths. You have to wonder, however, how much faster Seb would be if his KERS had been working - yet again Red Bull have struggled with this power boost system.
Anyway, again there are no points to be won on a Saturday and race day is where it counts. The start of the race saw Fernando Alonso make a phenomenal start, coming from fourth to first! That pleased the home fans but I was pleased when Sebastian managed to get back up into second behind Alsonso. The race continued with much chasing by Red Bull, but the only real changes of order started during the pit stops. Vettel eventually got into the lead, with Lewis Hamilton coming up close behind. Despite a dismal start for Jenson Button, he eventually managed to get up to the top of the field. Mark Webber was stuck behind Alonso for most of the race - eventually leading to him losing out on a podium spot. Alonso himself lost out in the race, eventually finishing behind Mark Webber. The end of the race was perhaps the most tense ten minutes of my life. Lewis was chasing down Seb at an incredible pace. Given Seb's issues with KERS this was perhaps unsurprising. However, Sebastian managed to claw back a few tenths in the middle sector, leading to his fourth victory of the season. Another mention has to go to Nick Heidfeld, who managed to finish 8th after starting 24th on the grid following a fire in FP3 which prevented his qualifying - definitely one of my drivers of the day!
Now as it stands the result is Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Alonso, Schumacher, Rosberg. However, Lewis, Jenson, Mark and Jaime Alguersuari are under investigation by the stewards for not slowing under yellow flags when Heikki Kovalainen crashed. Whether they will incur a penalty remains to be seen, however I will update you as soon as I know. What a race! If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it on the BBC website - you won't regret it I assure you!
Friday saw the start of the grand prix weekend with the traditional practice sessions. As usual, the staus quo remained with Mark Webber setting the pace in both sessions. To my immense joy, I got a mention on the practice!! The mention stemmed from my views on Michael Schumacher, which you can read on this blog. As ever, David Croft and Maurice Hamilton were talking in FP1 about Schumacher's performance, stating that this was his worst start in 17 seasons. The reasons for this were the usual that he was too old. Now, I've got fed up of hearing about this and sent messages to 5 Live F1, Crofty and Maurice Hamilton basically arguing to leave Schumi alone. David Croft sent me a message back asking whether they were too hard on Schumi and whether it was worth discussing. I responded by arguing that yes, it's worth discussing his performance but no, it's not worth it if all that is questioned is Schumi's age as Barichello isn't that much younger and has had a similarly dismal start. In FP2, this debate was brought up and the general consensus was that yes, Schumacher has had a bad start to this year, but no, it's not that disastrous and that age shouldn't really come into it. My Twitter username (MooEvilBoffin) was then read out - to my immense joy! As soon as the video is uploaded to Youtube it'll get posted here. You can also check out the practice session on the iPlayer.
Saturday's practice session saw Sebastian Vettel only completing six laps - only one of which was timed. However, did that stop Seb? Nope! Fastest on just one lap for another Red Bull result. Of course, the practice sessions don't count for all that much - we don't know fuel loads etc., so we can't judge what the real pace is until qualifying. The big news in qualifying was that Team Lotus managed to get through to quali two. When this happened, people questioned whether Heikki Kovalainen would bother to actually run in the second session, but rather save a set of tyres. This argument was put forth as it was unlikely that Heikki would get higher than 17th. Nevertheless, Lotus decided to have a go - and it paid off with Heikki qualifying 15th! As for the rest of the field, Mark Webber managed to break Sebastian Vettel's pole position streak and beat Seb by two-tenths. You have to wonder, however, how much faster Seb would be if his KERS had been working - yet again Red Bull have struggled with this power boost system.
Anyway, again there are no points to be won on a Saturday and race day is where it counts. The start of the race saw Fernando Alonso make a phenomenal start, coming from fourth to first! That pleased the home fans but I was pleased when Sebastian managed to get back up into second behind Alsonso. The race continued with much chasing by Red Bull, but the only real changes of order started during the pit stops. Vettel eventually got into the lead, with Lewis Hamilton coming up close behind. Despite a dismal start for Jenson Button, he eventually managed to get up to the top of the field. Mark Webber was stuck behind Alonso for most of the race - eventually leading to him losing out on a podium spot. Alonso himself lost out in the race, eventually finishing behind Mark Webber. The end of the race was perhaps the most tense ten minutes of my life. Lewis was chasing down Seb at an incredible pace. Given Seb's issues with KERS this was perhaps unsurprising. However, Sebastian managed to claw back a few tenths in the middle sector, leading to his fourth victory of the season. Another mention has to go to Nick Heidfeld, who managed to finish 8th after starting 24th on the grid following a fire in FP3 which prevented his qualifying - definitely one of my drivers of the day!
Now as it stands the result is Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Alonso, Schumacher, Rosberg. However, Lewis, Jenson, Mark and Jaime Alguersuari are under investigation by the stewards for not slowing under yellow flags when Heikki Kovalainen crashed. Whether they will incur a penalty remains to be seen, however I will update you as soon as I know. What a race! If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it on the BBC website - you won't regret it I assure you!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
A Breakaway Championship?
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding what will happen to F1 when the Concorde Agreement runs out in 2012. The Concorde Agreement is basically a contract between the FIA, current partners CVC and the F1 teams (represented by FOTA - the Formula One Teams Association) which states how the revenue from television showings and prize money should be divided. It also contains specific details of the terms for how the teams compete in the races. There have been a number of Concorde Agreements over the life of F1, but the details have all remained secret. Each time the Concorde Agreement comes up for renewal there is speculation of what effect the new agreement will have for the fans. From what I can gather, not a huge amount has changed for the fans for each agreement, however personally I still find it a tense time - for reasons I shall explain below.
Speculation has been further promoted this time around because of the rumours that News Corp (Rupert Murdoch's company) are interested in purchasing F1 from current owners CVC. The take over of F1 isn't in itself any cause for worry - largely because of the Concorde Agreement maintaining the status quo for fans of the sport. However, the fact that the terms of the new contract are being re-negotiated becomes a cause for concern should News Corp choose to buy the rights to the sport. It's thought that if News Corp did acquire F1 from CVC there is a chance that F1 would be shown on pay-per-view television, rather than its current free-to-air status. If News Corp acquire F1 before the terms of the Concorde Agreement are renewed then there is a likelihood that they may place a term that F1 can only be shown on the pay-per-view channels of Murdoch's company.
Despite the speculation, various F1 officials have argued that the idea of News Corp acquiring F1 is simply posturing at the moment and CVC have no interest in selling the sport. Bernie Ecclestone has been one of the most outspoken on this issue, as has Eddie Jordan, whose views can be read here. However, even though the F1 officials have been dismissing the speculation, nobody has denied that News Corp wouldn't be able to purchase the sport if they offered the right price. Without a definite 'no' from CVC, there's simply no way that a fan such as myself can understand whether the sport will be sold or not.
So, if News Corp did buy F1, would F1 be shown on pay-per-view TV only? At the moment, the BBC have the rights to show F1, but this agreement runs out itself very soon - adding to my worry that F1 could move from the accessible free-to-air television to pay-per-view. Bernie Ecclestone has branded this 'suicidal'. The teams have also spoken against this idea arguing that moving F1 from free-to-air TV would be madness - and they're right in this respect. Formula 1 teams rely on sponsorship for money and to keep the teams going generally. If F1 moved away from free-to-air TV then suddenly the audience decreases massively. I love F1, however I simply cannot afford to watch nearly 20 races on pay-per-view television. Should the audience decrease, then sponsors would lose interest in teams as they get little return on their investment - investments of millions of pounds. This reason alone is weighty enough to mean that the teams are opposed to F1 being shown on pay-per-view TV. It is likely then that teams would fight any bid by News Corp to change the Concorde Agreement's clause of showing F1 on free-to-air television.
The negotiations of the Concorde Agreement themselves appear to be somewhat fraught, with Jean Todt (president of Ferrari) arguing that there are three options for the sport prior to the negotiation of the agreement - article here. First, the teams could go for the easy life and simply renew the Concorde Agreement as it stands with CVC - the option which seems most likely for the moment. Second, they could seek out a new partner to replace CVC; the likely choice being News Corp providing that F1 stays on free-to-air TV, or a partnership between News Corp and Exor. The final option which Todt rose was to form a breakaway championship - similar to the NBA in Basketball (apparently... I'm no expert on basketball!).
Now, I doubt that F1 will form a breakaway championship - it just seems like F1 is too expensive to be run without the support of a large company like CVC. That, and this isn't the first time that teams have threatened a breakaway series. When the points system was being overhauled there were similar threats of forming a breakaway championship - this never happened and the points system which we have currently was used as an alternative to the proposed medals system. To me, it just seems like the threat of a breakaway championship is used by the teams as a negotiating tool.
Personally, as a fan I am very happy with how the sport is run at the moment. Despite the criticisms of the rules, argument that overtaking is artificial because of DRS and KERSwatch F1 on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I get the opportunity to save up my money and attend races in person. Hopefully the Concorde Agreement terms will be sorted in time and once again the fans will come out on top - in a choice between business and sport I so hope that sport comes out on top!
Speculation has been further promoted this time around because of the rumours that News Corp (Rupert Murdoch's company) are interested in purchasing F1 from current owners CVC. The take over of F1 isn't in itself any cause for worry - largely because of the Concorde Agreement maintaining the status quo for fans of the sport. However, the fact that the terms of the new contract are being re-negotiated becomes a cause for concern should News Corp choose to buy the rights to the sport. It's thought that if News Corp did acquire F1 from CVC there is a chance that F1 would be shown on pay-per-view television, rather than its current free-to-air status. If News Corp acquire F1 before the terms of the Concorde Agreement are renewed then there is a likelihood that they may place a term that F1 can only be shown on the pay-per-view channels of Murdoch's company.
Despite the speculation, various F1 officials have argued that the idea of News Corp acquiring F1 is simply posturing at the moment and CVC have no interest in selling the sport. Bernie Ecclestone has been one of the most outspoken on this issue, as has Eddie Jordan, whose views can be read here. However, even though the F1 officials have been dismissing the speculation, nobody has denied that News Corp wouldn't be able to purchase the sport if they offered the right price. Without a definite 'no' from CVC, there's simply no way that a fan such as myself can understand whether the sport will be sold or not.
So, if News Corp did buy F1, would F1 be shown on pay-per-view TV only? At the moment, the BBC have the rights to show F1, but this agreement runs out itself very soon - adding to my worry that F1 could move from the accessible free-to-air television to pay-per-view. Bernie Ecclestone has branded this 'suicidal'. The teams have also spoken against this idea arguing that moving F1 from free-to-air TV would be madness - and they're right in this respect. Formula 1 teams rely on sponsorship for money and to keep the teams going generally. If F1 moved away from free-to-air TV then suddenly the audience decreases massively. I love F1, however I simply cannot afford to watch nearly 20 races on pay-per-view television. Should the audience decrease, then sponsors would lose interest in teams as they get little return on their investment - investments of millions of pounds. This reason alone is weighty enough to mean that the teams are opposed to F1 being shown on pay-per-view TV. It is likely then that teams would fight any bid by News Corp to change the Concorde Agreement's clause of showing F1 on free-to-air television.
The negotiations of the Concorde Agreement themselves appear to be somewhat fraught, with Jean Todt (president of Ferrari) arguing that there are three options for the sport prior to the negotiation of the agreement - article here. First, the teams could go for the easy life and simply renew the Concorde Agreement as it stands with CVC - the option which seems most likely for the moment. Second, they could seek out a new partner to replace CVC; the likely choice being News Corp providing that F1 stays on free-to-air TV, or a partnership between News Corp and Exor. The final option which Todt rose was to form a breakaway championship - similar to the NBA in Basketball (apparently... I'm no expert on basketball!).
Now, I doubt that F1 will form a breakaway championship - it just seems like F1 is too expensive to be run without the support of a large company like CVC. That, and this isn't the first time that teams have threatened a breakaway series. When the points system was being overhauled there were similar threats of forming a breakaway championship - this never happened and the points system which we have currently was used as an alternative to the proposed medals system. To me, it just seems like the threat of a breakaway championship is used by the teams as a negotiating tool.
Personally, as a fan I am very happy with how the sport is run at the moment. Despite the criticisms of the rules, argument that overtaking is artificial because of DRS and KERSwatch F1 on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I get the opportunity to save up my money and attend races in person. Hopefully the Concorde Agreement terms will be sorted in time and once again the fans will come out on top - in a choice between business and sport I so hope that sport comes out on top!
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Random News and Updates
So Blogger was down yesterday meaning I couldn't catch up with my posts (what with missing Thursday's posting because of university business). Anyway, here's a quick round up of what I was going to post...
News of late has reminded us of Robert Kubica's absence from F1. Kubica was involved in an accident during a rally pre-season. He suffered extensive damage to his arm, meaning he is likely to be absent for most of the F1 season - a huge blow considering Lotus Renault's excellent form so far. We recently heard the news that Kubica is entering the next phase of his recovery and is so far recuperating according to plan. While it's still too early to speculate whether he will ever return to F1, he does seem to be progressing well and he seems determined to return as soon as possible. You can read the article about Kubica's recovery here, and an interview with Eric Boullier here.
My last post considered why the media were so obsessed with Michael Schumacher's form. I came to the conclusion that it was far too early to speculate whether Schumacher is still capable of racing in F1 and that the media seem to be questioning something which is irrelevant. The media jumped all over Schumacher's comment that he was not enjoying racing and took it to be a sign that he was due to retire. Schumacher has since come back at these comments, arguing that he is still motivated and that his Mercedes car should be gaining some more performance at the next Grand Prix in Spain. You can read the article here.
A final quick point that I'd like to talk about is motorsport's relationship with the social networking site Twitter. I have been a bit cheeky and have been sending the link to this blog to various drivers, journalists, teams and motorsport magazines asking them to look at it. I have received a positive response from everyone who has looked at it and I am incredibly grateful to those who have taken time to read what I have written. So if you're here from a link I have sent you then sorry for being so cheeky but thank you for reading! If you don't follow me on Twitter and you'd like to see my inane ramblings in 140 character form, then follow the link to my profile.
I love Twitter's links with motorsport, largely because it enables ordinary fans (like me) a bit more of an insight behind the scenes as it were. I find it fascinating to see what drivers get up to in their spare time, as well as hearing what goes on at a race weekend. The pictures and things that people post up on Twitter let us all see things that the regular media wouldn't be able to/want to show us (such as Heikki Kovalinen's paper boat at a particularly rainy Grand Prix weekend). I also like the fact that drivers will take the time to answer questions that fans pose - it's more of a direct response than a journalist would write up in an article and so the answers seem somehow more genuine. In general I just think that Twitter enables fans to "connect" more with their heroes - look at the drivers who responded to reading my blog, I was smiling for hours!
Hopefully now Blogger is back I will be posting more interesting content next week, for now thanks for having a look at my quick post! Have a comment on my articles if you like and if you're here from Twitter let me know! Have a lovely weekend.
News of late has reminded us of Robert Kubica's absence from F1. Kubica was involved in an accident during a rally pre-season. He suffered extensive damage to his arm, meaning he is likely to be absent for most of the F1 season - a huge blow considering Lotus Renault's excellent form so far. We recently heard the news that Kubica is entering the next phase of his recovery and is so far recuperating according to plan. While it's still too early to speculate whether he will ever return to F1, he does seem to be progressing well and he seems determined to return as soon as possible. You can read the article about Kubica's recovery here, and an interview with Eric Boullier here.
My last post considered why the media were so obsessed with Michael Schumacher's form. I came to the conclusion that it was far too early to speculate whether Schumacher is still capable of racing in F1 and that the media seem to be questioning something which is irrelevant. The media jumped all over Schumacher's comment that he was not enjoying racing and took it to be a sign that he was due to retire. Schumacher has since come back at these comments, arguing that he is still motivated and that his Mercedes car should be gaining some more performance at the next Grand Prix in Spain. You can read the article here.
A final quick point that I'd like to talk about is motorsport's relationship with the social networking site Twitter. I have been a bit cheeky and have been sending the link to this blog to various drivers, journalists, teams and motorsport magazines asking them to look at it. I have received a positive response from everyone who has looked at it and I am incredibly grateful to those who have taken time to read what I have written. So if you're here from a link I have sent you then sorry for being so cheeky but thank you for reading! If you don't follow me on Twitter and you'd like to see my inane ramblings in 140 character form, then follow the link to my profile.
I love Twitter's links with motorsport, largely because it enables ordinary fans (like me) a bit more of an insight behind the scenes as it were. I find it fascinating to see what drivers get up to in their spare time, as well as hearing what goes on at a race weekend. The pictures and things that people post up on Twitter let us all see things that the regular media wouldn't be able to/want to show us (such as Heikki Kovalinen's paper boat at a particularly rainy Grand Prix weekend). I also like the fact that drivers will take the time to answer questions that fans pose - it's more of a direct response than a journalist would write up in an article and so the answers seem somehow more genuine. In general I just think that Twitter enables fans to "connect" more with their heroes - look at the drivers who responded to reading my blog, I was smiling for hours!
Hopefully now Blogger is back I will be posting more interesting content next week, for now thanks for having a look at my quick post! Have a comment on my articles if you like and if you're here from Twitter let me know! Have a lovely weekend.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
What is it with the Media and Michael Schumacher?
Today I was browsing the BBC website and came across this article in which Schumacher states that the joy is missing from racing. This is a sad thing to hear as I would like to think that all F1 drivers (and indeed, all drivers in general) had some sort of joy from racing. Now, it could be that Schumi simply feels the joy is missing because he's not performing so well - however this doesn't necessarily mean that he is incapable of driving as the media seem to be implying.
Every time I watch a practice session, qualifying session and race at least one person comments on Schumacher's age. By the way that people were talking about him you'd have thought that he was over retirement age, claiming a bus pass and pension and had some sort of dementia. Schumi is 42 - not much older than Rubens Barrichello, yet nobody is questioning Barrichello's ability to race. Fair enough, Barrichello is in a Williams and Schumi is in a Mercedes, however why should Schumacher be considered too old to race and Barrichello not?
What I find astounding is that nobody has questioned whether the three year gap that Schumacher has taken could have impacted his performance. Consider all the training that F1 drivers do - their fitness regimes are intensive to say the least. Three years away from this must have taken its toll, and so we can't expect Schumacher to suddenly come good again. It takes time to get back up to previous standards, so even with one season in F1 back under Schumi's belt I don't think we're going to see him back to his winning ways immediately this year.
Looking at Schumacher's results this season I don't think we can be too critical either. Turkey was a poor race for Michael, however all drivers have their off days and people aren't so quick to judge when it's Vettel, Webber, Hamilton or Button falling down the standings. Look at China - Webber qualified 18th but nobody argued that he was incapable of driving! In China, Schumacher finished two places down on Rosberg - not exactly terrible considering the cars in between Rosberg and Schumacher were Alonso and Massa. In Malaysia, Schumacher beat his team mate by two places. In Australia, both Mercedes finished way down the standings - if it were a case of Schumacher being too old, why would Rosberg be finishing so close to Schumi in most races?
I do honestly think that Schumacher will get back to a good form later on in the year - one bad race doesn't mean that he is too old or not as good. It does annoy me that the media constantly drone on about Schumacher's age too... It's not as if he's not winning because he needs a nap or has forgotten what he's meant to be doing because of his age! We need to look beyond these four races this season and see what happens by the end of the year when Mercedes have their car up to par. If Schumi's still not enjoying the racing, then perhaps he'd consider his life in F1. However, this isn't something that the media can anticipate and only the man himself can take that decision. I commend Schumacher's return to F1 - as my Dad says, it's given us all hope of racing competitively...
Every time I watch a practice session, qualifying session and race at least one person comments on Schumacher's age. By the way that people were talking about him you'd have thought that he was over retirement age, claiming a bus pass and pension and had some sort of dementia. Schumi is 42 - not much older than Rubens Barrichello, yet nobody is questioning Barrichello's ability to race. Fair enough, Barrichello is in a Williams and Schumi is in a Mercedes, however why should Schumacher be considered too old to race and Barrichello not?
What I find astounding is that nobody has questioned whether the three year gap that Schumacher has taken could have impacted his performance. Consider all the training that F1 drivers do - their fitness regimes are intensive to say the least. Three years away from this must have taken its toll, and so we can't expect Schumacher to suddenly come good again. It takes time to get back up to previous standards, so even with one season in F1 back under Schumi's belt I don't think we're going to see him back to his winning ways immediately this year.
Looking at Schumacher's results this season I don't think we can be too critical either. Turkey was a poor race for Michael, however all drivers have their off days and people aren't so quick to judge when it's Vettel, Webber, Hamilton or Button falling down the standings. Look at China - Webber qualified 18th but nobody argued that he was incapable of driving! In China, Schumacher finished two places down on Rosberg - not exactly terrible considering the cars in between Rosberg and Schumacher were Alonso and Massa. In Malaysia, Schumacher beat his team mate by two places. In Australia, both Mercedes finished way down the standings - if it were a case of Schumacher being too old, why would Rosberg be finishing so close to Schumi in most races?
I do honestly think that Schumacher will get back to a good form later on in the year - one bad race doesn't mean that he is too old or not as good. It does annoy me that the media constantly drone on about Schumacher's age too... It's not as if he's not winning because he needs a nap or has forgotten what he's meant to be doing because of his age! We need to look beyond these four races this season and see what happens by the end of the year when Mercedes have their car up to par. If Schumi's still not enjoying the racing, then perhaps he'd consider his life in F1. However, this isn't something that the media can anticipate and only the man himself can take that decision. I commend Schumacher's return to F1 - as my Dad says, it's given us all hope of racing competitively...
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
My Own Motorsport
So you all know that I'm an F1 geek, but I haven't actually spoken about my own personal involvement in motorsport. Since the age of 12 I have been driving my Range Rover:
From the age of 13 I have been driving that magnificent car in junior off road trials. On my very first trial I came third in the national competition. I continued with my junior trials (Tyro trials) until I turned 17. Once I was old enough to have a provisional license, I started driving in RTV trials - and came third in class in my first ever trial! I enjoy these trials immensely and have a go whenever I can!
Aside from the trials I also drive about in my Land Rover:
I passed my driving test first time, and the car above is my road car - a 1962 Series Landy. It is amazing!!
On my 18th birthday, rather than go out drinking like most people my age, I went on a rally driving course. I was born at 3:45 in the afternoon and at 3:45 on the 8th of May I was performing a handbrake turn in a Subaru WRC car - what a way to start adulthood!
Monday, 9 May 2011
Oh You Fickle F1 Fans...
So, did we all enjoy the F1 yesterday? Lots of overtaking, exciting stuff and my favourite team and driver winning! Fantastic!
What do you mean "too much overtaking"??
Whilst on Twitter this morning I saw a posting by Jon Noble (a reporter for Autosport) which suggested that overtaking has become too easy in F1. You can read the article here. I find it hilarious that apparently F1 fans have gone from brandishing pitchforks and torches shouting "There's not enough overtaking, Bernie!" to apparently shouting "The overtaking's too easy, Bernie!". You'd have though that we're all a fickle lot, but I want to examine what all the fuss is about.
Now, the overtaking debate has been going on for some time now. Last year we had very few overtakes, perhaps even less than the year before, and people as a result began to complain that racing was 'boring' or 'processional' with only pit stops providing the bulk of the passing opportunities. Why is this? Rather than the typical view that 'drivers can't be bothered', the answer is probably a matter of physics. You see, the cars now have such sophisticated aerodynamics packages that they create a wake of turbulent air, meaning that cars behind initially get into the slipstream when 1 second behind, but then are met by turbulent air which pushes them all over the place. As a result, it is very hard to get any close and get past. In order to combat this, the bizarre aero pieces which were stuck here, there and everywhere on the cars in 2009 were banned, leading to a more simple looking car. In 2010 we still faced similar issues, largely due to the downforce being produced by the cars (more turbulent air you see). So, in 2011 Bernie and the gang brought back KERS (the Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and introduced the DRS (Drag Reduction System) to aid drivers behind in overtaking.
In order to understand this a little bit more, let me explain what exactly KERS and DRS are. KERS is a system whereby energy from braking is stored as electricity and is then converted into extra horsepower. The drivers charge their KERS unit over a lap, and have the energy available to them on the following lap. This leads to a system whereby the drivers constantly charge and use the energy available. There is no set place where drivers can use KERS, rather they press one of many buttons on the steering wheel to activate it. Generally, KERS is vital at starts where there is a long run to the first corner and in places where there are long straights generally. This season, Red Bull have been having issues with KERS, having not run it in 2009 like many other teams. KERS is meant to aid overtaking by providing an extra boost to the drivers when they are close to a car in front - or indeed to try and escape the car behind!
Now, the DRS is new. The drivers are able to press a button to open a flap on the rear wing, which reduces the drag caused by being in the turbulent air of the car in front. In contrast to KERS, the DRS is only available at a set point on the track (as decided by Charlie Whiting), and then only when a driver is within one second of the car in front - so no using DRS to escape from an oncoming driver. Turkey showed us just how well the DRS and KERS can be in conjunction with each other - there were loads of battles between drivers, even between team mates (though not Red Bull, much to Christian Horner's relief following on from 2010).
Despite these systems of KERS and DRS giving us exciting racing, people have been debating whether they are such a good thing. People have been arguing that overtaking is now artificial, and not down to driver skill. Rather than drivers having to negotiate their overtaking maneuvers on other drivers, they can simply press two buttons and go past.
However, I don't see it like this. If you get a driver who guards the necessary lines into corners, no amount of speed or drag reduction will allow them past. Drivers must therefore negotiate which line to take, as well as how to defend. Not forgetting that drivers don't automatically pull away from another when they have overtaken (unless they're one of the elite teams), and so the driver who has just overtaken another could find themselves being retaken! Just look as the battle between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton - because the drivers were equally matched in terms of car, several overtakes took place which made for exciting racing.
So if we take this into account I don't think we can complain about the overtaking being too easy - any overtaking is good, regardless of how it comes about. If a driver has the presence of mind to use his KERS and DRS and is able to overtake another, that is down to the driver. We shouldn't see KERS and DRS as some sort of 'push to pass' system, but rather tools which help the drivers to battle with others and give us more of a show. So to all you F1 fans out there who aren't so happy with the new systems - just get over it and enjoy the racing!
What do you mean "too much overtaking"??
Whilst on Twitter this morning I saw a posting by Jon Noble (a reporter for Autosport) which suggested that overtaking has become too easy in F1. You can read the article here. I find it hilarious that apparently F1 fans have gone from brandishing pitchforks and torches shouting "There's not enough overtaking, Bernie!" to apparently shouting "The overtaking's too easy, Bernie!". You'd have though that we're all a fickle lot, but I want to examine what all the fuss is about.
Now, the overtaking debate has been going on for some time now. Last year we had very few overtakes, perhaps even less than the year before, and people as a result began to complain that racing was 'boring' or 'processional' with only pit stops providing the bulk of the passing opportunities. Why is this? Rather than the typical view that 'drivers can't be bothered', the answer is probably a matter of physics. You see, the cars now have such sophisticated aerodynamics packages that they create a wake of turbulent air, meaning that cars behind initially get into the slipstream when 1 second behind, but then are met by turbulent air which pushes them all over the place. As a result, it is very hard to get any close and get past. In order to combat this, the bizarre aero pieces which were stuck here, there and everywhere on the cars in 2009 were banned, leading to a more simple looking car. In 2010 we still faced similar issues, largely due to the downforce being produced by the cars (more turbulent air you see). So, in 2011 Bernie and the gang brought back KERS (the Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and introduced the DRS (Drag Reduction System) to aid drivers behind in overtaking.
In order to understand this a little bit more, let me explain what exactly KERS and DRS are. KERS is a system whereby energy from braking is stored as electricity and is then converted into extra horsepower. The drivers charge their KERS unit over a lap, and have the energy available to them on the following lap. This leads to a system whereby the drivers constantly charge and use the energy available. There is no set place where drivers can use KERS, rather they press one of many buttons on the steering wheel to activate it. Generally, KERS is vital at starts where there is a long run to the first corner and in places where there are long straights generally. This season, Red Bull have been having issues with KERS, having not run it in 2009 like many other teams. KERS is meant to aid overtaking by providing an extra boost to the drivers when they are close to a car in front - or indeed to try and escape the car behind!
Now, the DRS is new. The drivers are able to press a button to open a flap on the rear wing, which reduces the drag caused by being in the turbulent air of the car in front. In contrast to KERS, the DRS is only available at a set point on the track (as decided by Charlie Whiting), and then only when a driver is within one second of the car in front - so no using DRS to escape from an oncoming driver. Turkey showed us just how well the DRS and KERS can be in conjunction with each other - there were loads of battles between drivers, even between team mates (though not Red Bull, much to Christian Horner's relief following on from 2010).
Despite these systems of KERS and DRS giving us exciting racing, people have been debating whether they are such a good thing. People have been arguing that overtaking is now artificial, and not down to driver skill. Rather than drivers having to negotiate their overtaking maneuvers on other drivers, they can simply press two buttons and go past.
However, I don't see it like this. If you get a driver who guards the necessary lines into corners, no amount of speed or drag reduction will allow them past. Drivers must therefore negotiate which line to take, as well as how to defend. Not forgetting that drivers don't automatically pull away from another when they have overtaken (unless they're one of the elite teams), and so the driver who has just overtaken another could find themselves being retaken! Just look as the battle between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton - because the drivers were equally matched in terms of car, several overtakes took place which made for exciting racing.
So if we take this into account I don't think we can complain about the overtaking being too easy - any overtaking is good, regardless of how it comes about. If a driver has the presence of mind to use his KERS and DRS and is able to overtake another, that is down to the driver. We shouldn't see KERS and DRS as some sort of 'push to pass' system, but rather tools which help the drivers to battle with others and give us more of a show. So to all you F1 fans out there who aren't so happy with the new systems - just get over it and enjoy the racing!
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