The Trend Continues

A while ago, Jenson Button was quoted as saying that he didn't think the fact that the first six races of the season brought six different winners was a good thing. In fact, Jenson believed that having such variability was off-putting to us fans. Well, he'd be disappointed with the race we saw in Canada - a race that brought us our seventh different winner of seven different races!

Canada is always an interesting circuit. The infamous 'wall of champions' on the main straight has claimed many victims over the year - last year catching out Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the final practice session. Luckily last year this didn't seem to affect Seb too much, as he went on to grab pole position. This year, it was Heikki Kovalainen who suffered during the practices, although this incident happened on Friday practice, and sadly didn't lead to a Caterham pole! Pastor Maldonado however was caught by the wall during qualifying, and although he did his best to try and complete his lap with only three wheels, this was clearly a strategy that didn't pay off.

I think we can say that we had a pretty exciting qualifying session overall. It was a genuine mystery as to who would grab pole position. Red Bull had earlier suffered controversy once again over the holes in their car. Last race, a hole in the floor at the rear of the car was controversial, and between the races was deemed illegal - even though Red Bull had previously asked for clarification and were deemed legal. F1 in the last few years is a bit notorious for its sudden changes of mind on aerodynamics (in fact, I'd argue that this is perhaps the more off-putting to fans, rather than having different winners). So, in Canada another controversy arose with the Red Bull holes. This time, holes in the hub were deemed illegal for providing an aerodynamic advantage, and had to be changed before qualifying on Saturday - but whether this would disadvantage the drivers is another story.

Hamilton was perhaps one of the more favourited drivers for pole position in Canada - the circuit which granted him his first win. Q1 saw the Caterhams of Petrov and Kovalainen out-qualify the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne - quite an achievement for the team! Q2 was fairly straightforward, with the usual suspects (McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, the Lotus of Grosjean and the Force India of Paul di Resta) making it through to Q3. So, with the final part of quali to go, we were still no closer to understanding who would be on pole. Vettel set an early time in the low 1:14s, and took pole. However, the McLaren of Hamilton was still in with a good shot, as was the Ferrari of Alonso. Button seemed to opt for a race-strategy, choosing the soft (rather than super-soft) tyres, leading to him finishing in 10th. With the first runs out of the way, the leaders came back out for their final qualifying lap and we got our answer of who was fastest. While fantastic times were set by Alonso and Hamilton, Vettel took his 33rd pole of his career, with a 1:13.7! So, despite the controversy of their car, it looked as though Red Bull had the advantage in Canada.

Race day was another exciting affair - something we're all getting quite used to now. In the early stages of the race, Vettel did his usual trick of flying off into the distance at the start. However, he was swiftly followed by Hamilton and Alonso. When the first round of pit stops came up, there was a lot of switching around at the front. Hamilton took the lead after Vettel pitted, only to be replaced by Alonso after his own pit stop. With the top three still Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel, we could expect a fair amount of close racing. However, the leaders tended to bide their time during the second stint -possibly waiting for clues on each others' strategies. Tyre degradation was such that Hamilton was forced to make a second stop, although on the team radio he did ask whether Alonso and Vettel would also take second stops. As he was assured of the second stops of his rivals, Hamilton pitted. However, it seemed that Alonso and Vettel did not want to stop, having gained the advantage over Hamilton at last.

With this fact in mind, the team were back on the radio to Lewis and asked him to push as much as he could. Of course, the circuit of Montreal is much more suited to the McLaren of Lewis than it is to the Red Bull of Sebastian, and with much fresher tyres the move on Vettel was easily made. This prompted Vettel to pit himself, and eventually Sebastian finished the race in fourth place. With Vettel out of the way, Hamilton only had to pass Alonso - often easier said than done. However, the gamble of Ferrari to only one-stop did not pay off, and the pass was easily done with the aid of newer tyres and DRS. Hamilton thus became our seventh winner.

Things went from bad to worse for Alonso however, as due to his crippled tyres he was passed not only by Hamilton, but by Lotus's Grosjean and Sauber's Perez - people who had otherwise had fairly uneventful races! Now that Vettel was also on fresher tyres, Alonso was easily passed by the Red Bull, and Alonso eventually finished fifth. All of this in the final five laps of the race!

Someone else who has been suffering with a bout of bad luck is Michael Schumacher. Although he managed to qualify in the top 10 once again, SchumacherDRS failed in the open position - something which isn't meant to happen at all! I'm really hoping that Schumi's luck starts to pick up, as he has been showing more promise lately after his pole position a few races back.

Massa was driving an amazing race at the start, however a spin on lap six meant that his amazing form wasn't continued into a higher result. He did, however, recover from his spin to finish 10th. It seems as though Massa is having a second chance at the season, and hopefully we'll see more improvements from him as the season goes on.

So, overall another fantastic race. The next time out is at Valencia - surprisingly one of the races I rarely look forward to, largely because nothing ever really happens. However, the way the season's been going we could see a change in this trend, and maybe we'll end up with an eighth winner! The week after Valencia I am also happy to report that I will be attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed! So, expect a very long update when I return.

Schumi's Return and F1 History

I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who isn't enjoying the 2012 F1 season. Over the past couple of years, we've seen new regulations to make F1 more of a spectacle in terms of the on track racing and the two championships, and I think we can safely conclude that these changes seem to have worked. Formula 1 in 2012 appears to be one of those years that we're going to remember for a long time: Six races in and the season is already making F1 history, with six different winners in the first six races. Could we ask for more right now?

This weekend saw the magnificent Monaco grand prix, arguably the most glamorous and prestigious events on the calendar. Monaco is one of the classic F1 venues along with Spa and Silverstone, and in terms of the spectacle of F1 Monaco has to be leading them all. Thursday's practice sessions (no practice on Fridays in Monaco so that the public get their streets back for a day) didn't lend us any clues as to who would be quickest in qualifying, so Saturday remained a mystery.

When quali day came around, many people were egar to see who would be on pole, and whether we'd finally settle into working out who was the fastest team. Well, we had no such luck in this respect, but we did get one of the biggest surprises of the year: Michael Schumacher took pole position! This was the first time since Schumi's return that he'd topped a qualifying session, and it was an absolutely joyous moment for the Schumi fans out there. Sadly however, Schumacher had to start the race not from the number one slot, but from sixth owing to a penalty carried over from the previous race. Still, many of us were delighted that Schumacher had finally proven he could still drive a racing car. With Schumacher's penalty, it was Mark Webber who started from pole position, closely followed by Nico Rosberg. Hamilton and Grosjean followed the top two, in turn followed by the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa - Massa's best qualifying all season. Vettel chose not to set a time in Q3 for the second race running, preferring instead to save his tyres, set sector times and qualify 10th (9th with Schumi's penalty), behind Raikkonen and Maldonado. Jenson Button was a surprise casualty in qualifying, ending up 13th behind Kobayashi and Hulkenberg. So, once again quite a jumbled up grid for the race.

The race seemed to divide opinion somewhat, with many claiming that it was processional, while others claimed they thoroughly enjoyed it (me being in the latter condition). We did have a fair few incidents at the start of the race: Grosjean spun his Lotus after contact with Fernando Alonso, leading to his retirement. He almost caught his car up with Sebastian Vettel, but luckily Vettel managed to take an escape route and avoid any collision. Alonso managed to escape the incident unscathed. However, Schumacher's luck seems to have been out during the races, and he got caught in the incident with Grosjean. While he managed to continue into late into the race, eventually a problem surfaced with his Mercedes and he retired once again.

From there on in, the order was pretty much stable, with Webber leading followed by Rosberg, Hamilton and the Ferraris. Massa showed surprising pace, and looked like a different man in the race this weekend. In fact, he was quite often faster than Alonso, prompting Twitter to collectively shout 'Fernando: Felipe is faster than you'! Vettel had an amazing recovery from his dismal qualifying session, opting for a different strategy from the rest of the top runners. By staying on the soft (prime) tyre, rather than the super-soft (option) tyres, he managed to leave his pit stop much later. Eventually, he finished in fourth place ahead of Hamilton and Massa.

The final few laps of the race were interspersed with rain, making the race just a little more tense. The pace dropped off, prompting Toro Rosso to bring in Jean Eric Vergne for the intermediate tyre, however this was a gamble which cost them valuable points as it simply didn't rain enough to warrant these tyres. The front runners slowed to such an extent that we had six cars within a couple of tenths of each other, making the last five laps of the race pretty awesome to watch. Sadly, Monaco is not a track which warrants much overtaking and so the status quo remained, and Webber took the chequered flag for Red Bull's second victory of the season (the only team to take two wins so far), and make F1 history by having the sixth different winner out of six races. Rosberg and Alonso took the final places on the podium.

So, with Monaco over the teams head off to Canada in two weeks' time. The way the season is at the moment means it's impossible to pick a favourite for the coming races. While I'm sure this prompts annoyance from those who like consistency and stability, if you're a fan of F1 there isn't a better time to follow the sport. Will we see seven different winners in as many races? It's hard to tell, but with this season so far, anything could happen and I'm sure none of us can wait to see it!

Re-Focusing

Well, it's less than a week before my first exam, and today the inevitable stress reared its ugly head and lead to me having a temporary loss of motivation. I know that this is a motorsport blog, and I keep rambling on about exams but hear me out, there's a link to F1. Over the past month, I've done little else but revision. I've watched the odd spot of motorsport on TV, but apart from that I've mostly been reading about Freud, the brain and personality. As much as I love studying and working towards my ultimate goal of a PhD, a whole month is somewhat taxing as I'm sure you'd all agree. So, today's mini-breakdown probably wasn't that much of a surprise. Of course, what's anyone meant to do when suffering from a loss of motivation other than call their Mum?

On phoning my Mum and telling her about how much pressure I was putting myself under, and how it was stressing me out, she said something which gave me kind of an epiphany, and now I'm back to my old self and looking forward to the exams. Most students I know would be begging for this sort of inspiration, but I have a hunch that it would only work for me. Now, for those of you into motorsport who have been patiently reading and wondering what the hell I'm on about, here's where F1 comes into it.

As you've probably guessed from my picture and pretty much all the posts on here, I'm a fan of a certain German Red Bull Racing driver - Sebastian Vettel. One of the (many) things that I admire about him is his ability to always have a smile on his face, despite criticisms from the media and despite having bad days at the office so to speak. In fact, this is probably the main reasons why I'm such a fan of Vettel's, ever since his Toro Rosso days he's had this perspective on his career, and it shows in his performance. The focus that he has when he gets into the car is also another huge point of admiration right there, and I have often tried to replicate this in my studies and in my approach to exams.

Sure, my exams aren't as exciting as driving an F1 car through Eau Rouge at high speed, however like Vettel I do have a career riding on my performance. So, the level of focus that Sebastian has means he's somewhat a role model for my own performance. Well, today it seems that I've had a bit of a lack of the other quality of Vettel's - the ability to carry on and be cheerful, even if things aren't quite going 100%.

My Mum reminded me of this today, and it definitely made me realise that taking the perspective of Vettel and being 100% focused to the task at hand, no matter how well it's going or not, keeping an eye on the end game (for Vettel, another world championship, for me, a PhD) and managing to shrug off when things aren't going so well is probably the best way in which to approach my exam.

My Mum also pointed out another driver who perhaps doesn't take this perspective despite having comparable talent: Lewis Hamilton. When Lewis first came into F1 in 2007, he had the same view as Vettel, and was always cheerful and could shrug off bad days. This quality paid off, and got him the championship in 2008 (of course, this quality and his supreme driving ability). However, after getting the championship and having a somewhat rougher year in 2009, Lewis kind of lost the 'keep calm and carry on' approach that he had before, and things just didn't seem to go his way. Last year in particular, Lewis would often get out of the car in a huff when things didn't go so well - the Massa incident being one of those times. Luckily, Lewis seems to slowly be returning to his old self, although the sulking because of a third place spot on the grid was kind of annoying.

So, the upshot of the conversation with my Mum? Be more like Vettel, and don't turn into Hamilton. I know, it's not exactly something you'd hear at an academic support workshop, but it works for me. I have a Vettel calendar this year, and the month of May shows Vettel holding his trophy in Australia last year. I'm hoping that this will remind me to adopt Vettel's cheerful and focused approach in my exams, and will win me the good results of the exams. If this carries on throughout the rest of this degree, then I'll have the equivalent of my driver's championship, my PhD, within the next 6 years. If I can pick up trophies along the way, then great, but whatever happens I'll be happy with good results; Just like Vettel. That's what I'm talking about!

Rain, Heat, and The Ice Man Melteth

For the second weekend in a row I'm having a break from university work having dedicated a few days to F1. This week's action came from Malaysia, a race known for its extremes of weather. After the spectacular race in Melbourne, Malaysia held high hopes for us race fans, to see whether the racing in 2012 would be staying exciting or whether Australia was a fluke. As it turns out, if these two races are anything to go by then we're in for one hell of a season.

In qualifying it was the McLarens who were the big winners once again, with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button locking out the front row. The surprises started with the occupation of the third grid slot. Red Bull? No. Lotus? No. A silver Mercedes. However, this wasn't the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, but rather Michael Schumacher; a man who many in the media have criticised since his comeback. I was delighted that Schumi managed to get this grid slot; I've always been an advocate of Schumacher's return, as is highlighted in a previous blog post of mine (as discussed on 5 Live F1 too I believe). It's nice to see that Schumacher still has the ability to drive these cars. So with the Red Bulls losing out again and the Mercedes powered cars at the front after qualifying, today's race was set to be an interesting one.

As Malaysia is another early race, I set my alarm for 7:30 (the start time of Sky's F1 coverage) after moving the clock forwards an hour due to British Summer Time. I'd thus prepared to get up that extra hour earlier - I often sacrifice my sleep for motorsport. Sadly, my phone decided that it would add an extra hour advance to my phone's clock, so I ended up getting up even earlier than planned... Something I feel I will probably pay for when at uni tomorrow. No matter, eventually the race coverage began and I can safely say that this one was a treat, and worth the sleep deprivation.

The Malaysia weather wasn't disappointing, with a shower 5 minutes before the start of the race. This brought back memories of 2009's race - yep, the one where Kimi Raikkonen abandoned his car during the red flag to wander off and have an ice cream. While rainy races are always exciting, there's a fine line between the weather making things interesting and making things dangerous. At the start of the race things weren't so bad, and so the race started as normal. However, the safety car soon came out and 9 laps in the race was stopped. For those of you who aren't so clued up on the rules of F1, when red flags are given the cars line up on the grid in race order. At this point of the race, we had a couple of surprises in the top 10: the Sauber of Sergio Perez and - please believe me when I say this - the Hispania of Narain Karthekeyan. After half an hour of halted running, the race finally resumed under the safety car, and it was from there on that things got really interesting.

Fairly soon after resuming, the track had dried sufficiently to move back on to intermediate tyres. The pit stops led to a lot of confusion on the timing screens, but when things eventually settled down we had our leaders: Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton. Honestly, I knew we would have a surprising race, but this was completely unexpected! Perez's pace in the Sauber had to be a highlight of the race for me - at one point it looked as though he was going to take the race lead. No doubt Perez would have won the race had he not gone wide in the closing stages of the race.

Sadly, the races of the Mercedes cars didn't turn out as promised, with Schumacher claiming the last point and Rosberg finishing behind in 13th. To my disappointment, the Red Bulls also had a bit of a poor race, with Webber finishing fourth (ok, not so bad but considering last year's performance it could have been better) and Vettel finishing 12th after sustaining a puncture when lapping the HRT of Karthekeyan (yes, he sadly lost his 10th place). To be honest, Vettel was lucky to finish the race at all: radio messages from his engineer in the last couple of laps told him first to retire, then stay out, then retire again due to a serious problem. I can only hope that Red Bull work out where their problems are for the next race in China. Jenson Button also finished outside of the points, after again colliding with another car and having to have a front wing change. After this change, he couldn't get the intermediate tyres to work, and suffered through the remainder of the race.

There's no way I can do justice to the entire race here, you'll just have to go and watch it. It was one of the best I've seen in a while. After the chequered flag fell, we had the most surprising podium for a long time: Alonso, Perez and Hamilton (ok, the last one isn't so surprising). So, despite the speculation of the pace of the Ferrari, Alonso didn't get a bad result at all. In fact, he was probably as surprised as we were. However, I don't think anyone can argue that the driver of the day is Perez, and there are a lot of us who eagerly await to see what he can do in the future.

blogs. Until next time...

The Long Overdue Post

I sit here after watching the phenomenal Korean Grand Prix and I am writing an apology. I have been somewhat neglectful of this blog of mine lately, largely because of my return to university and the start of a whole new year of hard work. While I have a spare 20 minutes or so though, I feel I should update you with my life outside of university and let you know about my recent motorsport musings.

Since my last post (over a month ago... Sorry...) things have been all go in the world of motorsport and I thought I'd start with my favourite piece of news: Sebastian Vettel is the youngest ever double F1 world champion! Obviously, you've probably all heard this anyway, but news such as this is deserving of at least a mention. I'm incredibly biased anyway (a look around my room would tell you this - a Vettel poster, flag and Red Bull Racing merchandise litters my living space), but there's not much debate that Vettel absolutely deserves this second title. As of this morning, Vettel has won ten races and been off of the podium only once (funnily enough in Germany - the race I attended). His qualifying has been absolutely phenomenal, being on the front row in most races. In terms of points, Sebastian has (so far) acquired 349 out of a possible 400 - that's 87.25% of all available points. If he wins the final three races, he'll match Schumacher's most number of wins in a single season. Oh, and for those who doubted his overtaking ability then I suggest you watch the past couple of races again. An awesome move on Fernando Alonso and today's overtake for the lead on Lewis Hamilton should put a stop to the rumours that Vettel's not a racer. So, very well done that man! This morning also, Red Bull managed to seal a second consecutive constructor's world championship - a testament to the dedication of all the staff working for the team, and of course well deserved. Well done that team!

The Korean Grand Prix today was absolutely amazing. We've been treated to some good races this year and this one has to be one of the best. Battles between Webber and Hamilton were a joy to watch, and the psychology of the teams and drivers is getting more and more apparent in each race. An example of this is Fernando Alonso's dummy radio message of "I'm giving up, I'm giving up" - potentially an attempt to get Jenson Button to slow a little and give Fernando more of a chance of overtaking. With any luck we'll get to see more and more of this throughout the remainder of the season.

During Korea, we also saw the first non-Red Bull pole position since November last year. Lewis Hamilton managed to grab pole position at the last moment. Now, you'd have thought that Lewis would have been thrilled to halt Red Bull's Saturday pace, but apparently not. After getting out of the car, Lewis slowly wandered over to get weighed, seemingly disappointed with his performance. I'm not going to speculate why exactly Lewis is behaving in this way: no doubt the media will be all over this soon anyway. However, I do think that Lewis's image is in danger of being pulled down what with his behaviour recently. His on track performance has been subject to scrutiny by stewards, drivers, teams and fans alike. We're just not seeing the measured aggression of the old Lewis. Whether this is to do with his bad luck this year or some sort of personal issue I don't know. Hopefully he'll pick up in the next few races, if for no other reason than to build his reputation back up and gain more respect.

Now, my involvement in motorsport hasn't suffered as a result of returning to university. Of course, I've been watching the F1, but I've also been planning more trips and have visited Brands Hatch once again. The next big trip I have planned is a visit to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. After going to the Nurburgring this year, I don't think I could go a whole year without hearing the sound of an F1 engine or experiencing the atmosphere of thousands of F1 fans sharing a race. So, with any luck the tickets for next year's race at Spa will be booked very shortly, and another summer trip will ensue - watch this space!

A few weeks ago my Dad and I took my nephew back to Brands Hatch to watch the British Touring Car Championship. I've been watching the BTCC on the television this year, and the racing in this discipline is just insane. So, of course, I had to see it in person. Brands Hatch seems to be offering a lot more to the fans recently, with pit walks being a fixture of the big races I've attended. So, early in the morning we went down to Brands and managed to get a walk around the pits. Autographs ensued, and my nephew managed to grab a grand total of 18 posters. I was also thrilled with my chance to get a photograph of Tom Chilton, and very pleased when Frank Wrathall signed my programme, despite officials trying to usher fans out of the pits. Thanks to Mr Wrathall for staying and making a motorsport geek very happy!

The support races included the Ginettas, Ginetta Juniors, Formula Renault and the Porsche Supercup. The Ginetta Junior race was surprisingly slow, but then again the drivers are all around the age of 14! It's interesting to see the young drivers build up their race technique, and this training is important as most of the drivers were warned for dangerous driving!

I was pleased that the PorscheNurburgring, and it brought back memories of the F1 atmosphere. The lead driver, however, suffered some bad luck as he gained a puncture, forcing him to sit by the fence at Graham Hill Bend.

The BTCC races were really quite fast paced, however we couldn't see a whole lot of the race as the Grand Prix circuit was being used. However, a lot of cars seemed to be pushing hard where we were stood. When the tyres of a racing car go off, you can really see it. Especially when numerous drivers end up off the circuit right where you're standing! Jason Plato was the man with the best luck of the day, as he won the first two races - no doubt pleasing the fans wearing the Plato masks!

So, once again I apologise for the neglect of the blog, but it's good to be back! Hopefully there will be many more motorsport musings to come with the closing of the F1 season and hopefully with more Brands Hatch trips to come.

Well, I'm Back.

It's Tuesday the 26th of July 2011 and I've been home for 16 hours having returned from one of the best weekends of my life. I know that I won't be able to give this weekend as much justice as it deserves through writing this blog, however I will do my very best to try and give you an overview of the five days I had away from England. You must remember that as much racing as I've seen over the years (regular trips to Brands Hatch mean I'm no stranger to motorsport), I've never seen an F1 race in person. My expectations for the weekend were therefore quite high, having seen F1 on the TV and watching every race religiously. I have to say, I wasn't disappointed and I have had the best weekend that I can remember. It was definitely worth the 107 day wait.

The Journey

The weekend started on Wednesday for me. Dad had the day off work to get everything prepared for the trip. We knew we had a long drive ahead of us - from Dover to the Nurburgring would take us around 7 hours. Our ferry was booked for 9PM, however we left the house at 6:30 in order to be sure to arrive in time. The early leaving was kind of not worth it to be honest - we arrived over 2 hours too early! This did however mean that we were the first on (and therefore off) the ferry, and so we spent the time either sleeping or reading or eating to get ready for the epic drive.

We arrived in Calais at midnight (European time), and immediately ran into problems. We were expecting to go through the usual customs checks once off the ferry and so we were looking out for people to direct us. This never happened though, and the lack of street lights meant that we missed our turning towards the motorway! The sat nav proved a great boon in this case - although the "Turn around when possible" instruction got really irritating. We ended up going around the docks and through loads of little villages - places where we weren't sure we should be. In truth, it was kind of scary as we were expecting people to jump out on us at any minute. I guess things always look that much more terrifying in pitch darkness. Eventually, we found our way back onto the main roads and the journey was really underway.

We didn't spend all that much time in France, although it was really hard to tell when we got into a different country. We guessed that we had arrived in Belgium when the motorway signs changed and the language was ever so slightly different - talk about detective work! Most of our journey was taken up in Belgium, and it was the one place where we stopped for fuel. The Range Rover was absolutely brilliant in that respect - you wouldn't have thought that a 21 year old 3.9 V8 car would only need one stop on the journey but there you have it. It truly is the best car in existance - in my view at least!

Once we got out of Belgium we started the German leg of the journey. It was still dark at this point, and so we didn't get to see much of the Eifel mountains. All we knew of the mountains at this point was the height of them - we were just driving up, up, up and up! Eventually, the sun started to rise and we could finally see where we were. As we neared the track, the roads became like a motorsport circuit with tricky twists and turns. Now, if you were in a Caterham or something these roads would be so much fun - in a Range Rover designed for off road competitions driving in semi-darkness is slightly scary, but an adrenaline rush nonetheless! After spiralling round for what seemed like an age, we saw signs for the Nurburgring. At 6:30 AM, we arrived at the campsite, ready for the F1.

Thursday: The Pit Walk

After much fussing, tripping over, tangling of ropes and fighting metal poles, the tent was up. It was so hard to find a camping space at the site, largely because the event was so popular and this was the Nurburgring's official campsite. Yes, there were other sites around and some of the car parks were converted to accommodate those who couldn't get in at Camping am Nurburgring, but this was definitely the best site. We managed to find a spot under the pine trees on a hill - one of the greatest things about the Rangey is the old 'You can go fast, I can go anywhere' saying; we needed it this weekend. After breakfast, we set off to collect our tickets from the Nurburgring welcome centre.

Getting to the centre was a hell of a walk. It must have easily been two miles to the centre of the track, and most of that was uphill. I don't think I've ever walked so far in a weekend! We got to the welcome centre way too early, and so spent most of the afternoon looking at the merchandise stalls and the shops. I can tell you now that despite being a 19 year old girl, I've never been on a spending spree in my entire life. Up until now anyway. I bought merchandise across the entire weekend, and I've returned home with a Red Bull flag, mug, badge, Vettel poster, cup (which came with a drink at the food stalls), Nurburgring mug, sticker and probably a load of other stuff. All I have to say is best spending spree ever! After we'd looked around we went to collect our tickets. Luckily we didn't get stuck in too much of a queue - with the sheer numbers of people there we were pleased that we got to the welcome centre so early. 

With our tickets we were given a programme and we found out that the pit walks were scheduled to take place from 3:15 to 5 just behind the welcome centre. Realising that the Nurburgring was absolutely packed with people we decided to set off really early. It was just as well that we did really, as there was already quite a queue there. At this point, we got a taste of the famous Eifel weather. We knew that rain was going to be a problem at some point at the weekend; showers were scheduled for at least once every day. What we didn't expect was this amount of rain in a shower. Of course, we stood in the rain waiting for the pit walk - I wasn't letting water from the sky stop me from getting to go into the pits of an F1 circuit. 15 minutes into the rain and soaked to the skin I remembered that I had packed an umbrella - typical!

After what seemed like an age, we were allowed into the pits. The pit walk itself was crazy - people were everywhere just waiting for a glimpse of the workings of an F1 team, and how could you blame them? I was surprised at how open everything was. The secrecy of F1's technology led me to believe that the teams would shut their garages up for fear of people seeing something on the car that they'd rather the other teams didn't know about: Just look at the mechanics who are often to be found standing at the back of a Red Bull when it's on the grid. However, every garage was wide open, and so once we'd battled our way through the crowds we managed to see inside every one of them. I'll soon be uploading the pictures and sending some of the photos to the teams to play a little game of 'Name the Mechanic', once I get the results I'll be sure to post the pictures here with the names of the people working on the cars. 

As well as being able to see inside the garages, I was hugely surprised when a certain person came past on a push bike. The person's name? Michael Schumacher. Yep, he just cycled past everyone waiting in the pits. He soon returned to the garages though - followed by one Nico Rosberg! Sadly, they both went past so fast that I couldn't capture a photograph, but I'm sure I'll remember the day that Schumi cycled past me for years to come. After a while, we reached the one thing I absolutely HAD to see: the Red Bull garage. And who was outside? Sebastian Vettel! After getting through the scrum, I eventually managed to get a photograph of Seb, to my immense delight. I also managed to get a photo of myself outside the Red Bull garage, a photograph which I will cherish for quite some time. Anyway, we continued along our pit walk and saw inside every single garage. We even saw Williams doing a pit stop practice. The noise of the wheel guns was awesome! I never expected it to be so loud! As soon as I have a chance I'll upload a video of the stop and post a link. As we made our way towards the end of the pits we stopped outside the Force India garage - where we saw Adrian Sutil. There certainly wasn't a shortage of drivers in the pits, and it was nice to be so close to these awesome racers!

After the pit walk and being awake for over 36 hours we began the two mile walk to the camp site. I think Thursday night was the only night when I got any sleep - the rest of the weekend I was running on adrenaline and Bratwurst...

Friday: The Night of the Techno Music

 I woke up around 8 on Friday, feeling considerably less tired than Thursday but no less excited: today was the day I'd get to see 24 of the best drivers in the world drive 24 of the most technologically advanced cars in existence. We headed off to the circuit fairly early, as we knew that we had a long walk. We were expecting to have to stand in the zone where our tickets were allocated, however the circuit was open everywhere and so we stood at the hairpin around turn 9. The GP2 cars were out on circuit when we arrived, and even then the noise was quite something. I managed to take a few photographs and videos before the practice stopped. We then waited for the first F1 practice to start. During the waiting, we saw the course cars come out on circuit - Dad decided that he wanted the estate car that was on track, simply because the noise it made didn't fit the car at all! Of course, I took the opportunity to make a video. 

Once the course officials were satisfied, the F1 practice began. The newer teams were among the first to come out on track, and although I had ear defenders I didn't put them on straight away as I wanted to experience the noise with no interruption. I fell in love. The sound of those cars is absolutely phenomenal and I have to tell you now that the television does not do that noise justice. I did, however, concede defeat and put my ear defenders on and thanks to that I still have my hearing! When more of the cars came out on track I noticed something that you really can't experience when watching F1on TV, and something that's been the centre of attention for quite some time: the sound of the car with the off-throttle blown diffuser. The horrible burbling noise that you can just about hear on TV is actually as loud as the engines when the driver is accelerating! That was perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend. 

Over the day we saw so many different things during the practice. Schumacher went off circuit in FP1, right in front of us when we sat in the Vettel tribute stand (well, I couldn't not sit there really!). Once he regained the circuit the fans were waving and cheering him on - he really is seen as a kind of demi-god in Germany. Eventually, we moved around the circuit and sat where our tickets were allocated for the second practice. We were sat by turn 12 - one of the fastest parts of the circuit, just before the chicane. I was really pleased with where we sat, there's nothing like seeing those cars flying round at such high speed and braking hard for the twisty turns at the end of the straight. 

On Friday evening we went back to the tent and spoke with the guys who were camped near us. I have to say this for F1 and motorsport in general, it really does bring people together. The English guys camped with us were mostly Hamilton/McLaren fans, so of course there was banter about Vettel and Red Bull - although I don't think the guys expected a 19 year old girl to start talking about engine regs in 2014! A good evening all round, although we had very little sleep due to the techno music played through the night. Seriously, I will never doubt Mark Webber again when he said that the camp site could be heard all the way to the drivers' hotel! I've never heard such a mix of music, and I think I've heard as much AC/DC as I can take in a year.

Saturday: The Autographs

Saturday was of course quali day, when we would see the cars pushing like crazy to get to pole position. The night before we had headed to the shop at Camping am Nurburgring in order to buy some breakfast for Saturday. We needed to buy something that would keep, as we had no fridge and the only cooking equipment we had was fire. Let me tell you now, smoked croissant is an interesting dish, however it did set us up for the day.

Because the quali is perhaps more popular than the practice sessions, the FIA helicopter camera thing was flying about much more than the day before - it was perhaps as impressive as the cars themselves. It was great to watch it flying around, and we could only assume that the pilot got bored as the helicopter dived in and out of the surrounding trees in quite an aerobatic display. 

The qualifying itself was amazing to watch, mostly because of the atmosphere at the circuit. The fans were all urging their favourite drivers to get pole, and the final quali session was quite tense. I was surprised that I wasn't as disappointed that Sebastian wasn't on pole, however I was still thrilled that a Red Bull was on the front row. 

Once the day's qualifying sessions were over (Porsches, GP2 and GP3), we headed to the driver autograph session. This was the most insane part of the weekend - the crowds were like nothing I'd ever seen! We got to the session early, but clearly not early enough as the Eifeldorf Grune Holle was completely packed. I had my doubts that I'd actually get close to the drivers (I had already given up on the idea of an autograph, and I was mainly concerned with taking pictures). However, luck was on our side as we were allowed in to the main square! Once we reached the throng the real madness started. Sebastian Vettel appeared from inside the hotel and the crowd went wild. I don't know whether I'd go to another autograph session to be honest, largely because I felt that I was in real danger of being seriously injured. At one or two points I felt faint and as though I was being crushed. But, being the hardy Vettel fan that I am, I persisted in pushing my way through the crowds and by sheer luck alone I got my photographs. Vettel eventually left the crazy session, only for more drivers to appear. I managed to see Heikki Kovalainen, Paul Di Resta, Daniel Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Vitaly Petrov and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Once Schumacher and Rosberg appeared we made our escape - not because I didn't want photographs of them (far from it), but because the crowd went so wild that I honestly believed that someone was going to be seriously injured and I didn't want it to be me.

After the madness, we returned to the tent for the evening: The night of the fireworks. Honestly, when I was packing for Germany it never crossed my mind to bring fireworks and explosives, nor footballs to blow up. The F1 weekend was definitely a party for the German fans.

Sunday: Race Day

Sunday came around really quickly for me. We woke up at 7, as I wanted to charge my camera up for the race day. Unfortunately, the inverter which we used to charge up our phones and things from the Range Rover's battery had broken - possibly because of the wet weather. So, I had no battery for my camera and I was relying on my camcorder for the biggest day of my year. Never mind though, as nothing could dampen my excitement. We had a breakfast of firelighter beans (so named because they had a certain smoky quality due to the cooking methods we used... Namely, fire) and then set off to the circuit.

We arrived just in time for the GP2 race, which had some pretty close racing actually! It was so cool to see the cars going three abreast into the chicane at the end of the straight, and it raised our hopes for an exciting F1 race. We also managed to see the Porsche supercup race, which was quite different from all the other races as the cars look like, well, actual cars so to speak. Once this race was over, we had a nearly 2 hour wait before the weekend's main event. 

During the wait, the driver parade took place. This is one of many aspects that you never get to see on television, and it was fascinating listening to the interviews. I have always held the view that certain words get overused in F1, overused to such an extent that I've kept a count of them across the year: my Obviously and For Sure count. The weekend went to show that the words aren't just overused because of the TV coverage - the drivers really do say them that much! Joking aside, you get more of an impression of how personable the drivers are during these sessions - Fernando Alonso was the happiest I've ever seen him. You're also amazed when the drivers switch languages in a heart beat - Although it was hilarious when Timo Glock was asked to speak in German and answered in English! Luckily my camera held out just long enough to take some good shots.

Also before the race we saw something we didn't expect - David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen driving old Mercedes cars around the circuit. This was quite a spectacle, and you got a small sense of what it must have been like to see the old drivers take the cars out on the Nordschleife. 

After the entertainment we watched the race. It was the most amazing atmosphere I've experienced. The noise of the crowd and the cheers and shouts at every drama was something I'm glad I got to witness. You really don't get this on the television. On the first lap, Heidfeld had a collision with Sebastien Buemi and went flying off the track, quite literally. This happened right in front of us, and you could hear the intake of breath from the crowd. Lewis Hamilton went on to win the race, with my beloved Red Bulls only third and fourth, however I wasn't disappointed as the race was such a spectacle. The icing on the cake was when Fernando Alonso pulled over on the track on the slow lap in and Mark Webber picked him up. This happened literally in front of where we were standing, and I have an awesome video of Alonso getting on to Webber's car. 

The last thing that we saw on Sunday was the circuit closing, and the trucks leaving. This was an experience in itself, and it's crazy seeing just how quickly these teams work. Within half an hour of the race ending the trucks were all heading off, the course cars had cleaned up the circuit and it was as if nothing had happened over the weekend.

So, with the race done we headed back to the tent for our final night at Camping am Nurburgring, ready for a whole day of travelling.

The End of the Weekend

When Monday arrived we said goodbye to the friends we had made, packed up the tent and left Camping am Nurburgring at 10:30. It was lovely seeing the Eifel mountains in daylight, they really are impressive. The journey home took us more or less back the way we came, however we took a slight diversion through Bruges to pick up chocolates and waffles. We arrived in Calais for our 10PM ferry, and made our way home. I was sad to leave Germany, it was a beautiful place, and I really did have the best weekend of my life there.

So, worth the wait? Definitely. Would I go again? Definitely. And the camping? Well, it wouldn't be the same without it. Trust me, I'm going to the F1 again, and every motorsport fan should see F1 at least once. The noise, the sights and the atmosphere can't be replicated, and I'm in love with the sport even more.

If you can't get to a race, I've tried to capture most of the event in pictures. I'll also try and get back to you on the Name the Mechanic game. For now though, I'm going to watch my videos and relive the experience again and again.

Photo Albums

Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

F1: A Contradiction Competition

This morning I checked the F1 news page on the BBC website and was greeted by this article in which Lewis Hamilton states that he is aiming for McLaren to get a one-two at Silverstone. Brilliant, we all think, Lewis getting back on form. Well, I'm annoyed. Formula One seems to be full of contradictions lately and I for one am getting fed up. The mass of contradictions by drivers and officials is making the sport far more confusing than DRS and KERS overtakes ever were.

Let me first explain perhaps the most apparent instance of contradictions in F1: the Bahrain situation. Initially, the Bahrain GP was postponed because of unrest in the country. This is fair enough, as the people of a country come first (something stated by Mark Webber - one of the most vocal drivers about the Bahrain situation). A waiting game then ensued whereby meetings were held or pushed back to discuss and see how the situation would evolve in the country. A deadline was given to the country and FIA officials to decide whether the race could be held. Great, we all thought, we're going to get a firm "yes" or "no" on the 1st of May. Nope. The deadline was then extended by over a month. This was kind of annoying, however most of the fans understood. Eventually, after many meetings and much gossip the FIA took the decision to reschedule the Bahrain race. This seemed like a firm answer, and most fans thought the matter was solved. However, the teams called for a boycott of the race, and more negotiations ensued, along with the usual gossip which accompanies so many big decisions. The teams' protest was officially based on the logistics of the date of the rescheduled race, however many also felt that the ethical implications of going to a country in such a state would outweigh any benefit of F1 returning to the country. While the teams protested, the FIA sought to reassure them, stating that Bahrain was now safe. However, the teams couldn't be ignored and as such the Bahrain race was eventually cancelled - a move which many felt should have occurred in the first place.

When you see the number of articles saying that the race was off-on-off-on-off, you can see how annoying it was to watch this situation unfold. The whole process of decision making seemed completely unprofessional, as it appeared that the officials never spoke with the teams and decisions were made based purely on money alone. The contradictions made the situation so hard to follow, and many were simply relieved that it was over.

Anyway, we moved on from this and got on with the season. However, the drivers seem to have got into a competition for who can have the most contradictions. The first one I noticed was Fernando Alonso. Before the race at Valencia, Alonso was quoted as saying that Ferrari were having a bad year. After the race, during the press conference, Alonso said how well Ferrari had done during the last few races:

Monaco was a very good performance all weekend. We finished second. Canada was a very good performance. We didn't score any points there and here again very good weekend in terms of performance Felipe (Massa) and me and now both cars in the top five is a great team result so definitely moving in the right direction.

To add to this, another BBC article quoted Alonso as giving up on the title fight. So, what's Alonso's position? "Ferrari are bad - we're doing well - I've given up".

Now, to my final example. Lewis Hamilton has been all over the media. Given his run of bad luck lately, this isn't surprising. The previous article quoted Lewis as saying that he had pretty much given up on the next race at Silverstone, let alone the title. He said that he was "really not looking forward to Silverstone", that McLaren had "taken a step back" and that "It's finished really. In the sense of the title it's almost over". So, pretty pessimistic stuff. However, in the next breath Lewis has all of his optimism back and he's looking for the world championship! In terms of the Silverstone race, Lewis's initial comments of "we're just not quick enough to win there. I think we'll really struggle" have been forgotten, and he's now saying that McLaren can get a one-two finish there. In fact, he's said that "nothing is impossible", and the championship is far from over.

So what's going on with F1 lately? People were complaining at the start of the year that the races were confusing what with all the overtaking, but now it seems that the source of the confusion has very little to do with the on track action. Of course, I understand that the media isn't always accurate, but there must be a grain of truth in most of these articles and the drivers seem to be saying two things at once. I wish that the drivers and media would stop speculating, or at least stick with one point of view. For new fans, it must be excruciating to try and get into the sport with all this going on. Personally, I'm considering ignoring what each driver says, simply because I don't know whether they're being truthful or whether next week their views will be completely different. So, if I've sent a hundred links out to media spokespeople or drivers and you're reading this, I implore you to get your stories straight or say nothing at all - these contradictions are giving me a headache!

Valencia - Double DRS and Still No Action

Well Valencia has been and gone and the general consensus is that the race was perhaps the most boring of the season. We all knew that a boring race was looming - especially after the drama of Canada - and Valencia was the most likely candidate, given that a few years back we saw just one overtake in the race. Yes, people were hoping that a double DRS activation zone, KERS and the treacherous Pirelli tyres would spice things up, however we had no such luck.

Watching the race was fine for me - I still enjoyed it, despite that there was little change at the front of the grid. Well, maybe I enjoyed it because there was little change at the front; don't forget that I'm a die-hard Vettel/Red Bull girl! However I do feel for new fans that the race wouldn't give the best impression. It also made me wonder how long Valencia would be hosting the European race. I seem to recall that Europe moved around different circuits each year. The first race at the Nurburgring that I saw was the European Grand Prix for example. The past few years though the European race has been at Valencia, in effect giving us two Spanish Grand Prix races. Good for Alonso fans, not so good if you like variety.

Overall, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, despite the boring race. For F1 fans, any race is alright. Yes, it is annoying to have non-eventful races, but rather that than no race at all. Valencia did have some merit to it though: for the first time in F1 history 24 cars have finished a race, which is an achievement for the sport in terms of reliability. Also, Vettel made the record books being the only man to finish in the top two for the first eight races of the season and completing over 1,000 laps in the lead of the race. So, well done to him and to the teams!

One man who wasn't so happy at Valencia was the usual suspect: Lewis Hamilton. He's been all over the media lately, first being quoted as giving up in the championship, then being quoted as a fighter. It's kind of irritating for fans, as nobody really knows what his actual position is and what he's being told to say by PR people. It's more than likely the media twisting words, as is usual - Lewis isn't the only one being represented by contradictory statements this year. Fernando Alonso was first quoted as saying that Ferrari are having a bad year, then in the next breath he rattled off a list of races which Ferrari should be proud of. Generally, I try and avoid the media hype and take each race as it comes. Look at what happened with Schumacher; every media spokesperson out there said that Schumi was too old to race and that he should retire. After Canada, he's back on form! Whatever happens, hopefully the rest of the year will be a bit better than Valencia, and we'll get back to the exciting form of F1.

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.

Updates and Random Thoughts

It's been a while since my last post - exams have been given a high priority before three months of summer and my trip to Germany.

Now, I posted ages ago about Hamilton's comments on his calling to the stewards: "Maybe it's because I'm Black". Since he said that, there was uproar from the media and division among the public. On the one hand it was viewed as something terrible to say, understandable as F1 is a global sport and as such race, colour and creed have nothing to do with anything. On the other, people were pleased that Lewis was expressing his displeasure and not becoming a corporate robot. I can see both sides of the argument and I'm kind of in the middle ground. Yes, it's good that he's being honest with his views. However, it's also unprofessional and I think he needs to take these things up in private before shouting it to the media. Yeah, it was a heat of the moment comment, but he should have known better. There were rumours that sanctions for his comments would occur, as he could have been in breach of the regulations which state that nobody should bring the sport into disrepute (which is what happened to Max Mosely a few years back). However, Lewis since apologised and the stewards have accepted. Jean Todt today said that there would be no sanctions against Lewis. So, a lucky escape and it's definitely something for Lewis to learn by.

Something I haven't posted on before is the whole issue of Bahrain. The race was postponed because of the situation in the country and a meeting was held in the beginning of June (after being pushed back from May) to see whether it could be rescheduled. The FIA decided that the situation in Bahrain was settled enough for the race to go ahead. As a result, the race was scheduled to replace the Indian GP, with this race being pushed to December. Fantastic you might think, as we get 20 races this year and a shorter wait before the 2012 season. However, there are far deeper issues here.

Now, the FIA never consulted with the teams on their decision to reschedule the race. The season was scheduled to end two weeks later than usual - something which has implications for those who have to work for the teams. Also, article 66 of the regulations states that no changes can be made to the championship season after the entries have been confirmed without consulting the competitors themselves. So, even though the FIA vote has pushed through Bahrain, without the teams' say so it can't go ahead. FOTA have written to the FIA asking them to reconsider based on logistical grounds, with comments from Mark Webber, Bernie Ecclestone and others saying that the race can't go ahead.

Aside from logistics, there are a number of ethical issues to consider. The protests staged in Bahrain have been peaceful, however the authorities have taken action which has led to the deaths and injury of protesters. The issues of human rights have simply been ignored by the country. So, does F1 - a global sport - want to be associated with rescheduling a race in a country which does not take care of its people? No doubt there will be more negotiations in the coming weeks and we'll know soon enough whether Bahrain goes ahead with or without the competitors' approval.

A random thought I had came after I saw the Senna movie. In F1 there are clear greats (such as Senna, Prost et al.), and these greats are idolised. Now, one man who hold all the records is Michael Schumacher. However, people don't idolise him in general. I asked my Dad about this, and his response was that Schumacher made F1 boring. He was so good that nobody could catch him - therefore it was a foregone conclusion that he would win. I know I seem to defend Schumacher a lot, but I feel that I have good reason to. To me, the argument that Schumacher made F1 boring is ridiculous - surely it's up to the other teams to catch up? In this case, the other teams made it boring because they simply weren't as good! A similar situation has arisen this season with qualifying - Sebastian Vettel is making it boring. However, I'm not complaining about this (and not just because Seb is my hero), because it's up to another driver to challenge Seb's Saturdays. I was wondering whether Senna's heroism would be considered in the same way if he'd have lived. Say Senna went on to dominate F1 in much the same way as Schumacher did - would people still have the respect and adoration of him as they do now? Maybe it's human nature. People don't like people who excel all the time - we want to see slip ups. I just find it odd that Schumi was criticised for making F1 boring - the man has won 7 world titles! Surely that deserves awe and respect?

Sunday Evening Update

In my post earlier today I mentioned a few things which were unresolved and promised an update, so here goes:

Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Jaime Alguersuari were all under investigation because of failing to slow under yellow flag conditions when Heikki Kovalainen crashed in the race earlier. Any potential time penalties could have potentially led to Alonso and Schumacher gaining an advantage in the standings. The update since has stated that all four have received reprimands, but no further action is to be taken.

Other news includes the fact that Colin Kolles, team principal for Hispania Racing, has written to FIA chief Jean Todt arguing against the engine mapping used by the teams. The FIA had previously investigated the engine mapping used and argued that the extra downforce generated could potentially represent an unfair advantage, however as so many teams used similar systems the general consensus was that it would be impossible to police and as such most teams continued to use it. For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, the engine mapping is used to push exhaust gases over the rear diffuser of the car when the driver lifts off of the throttle. This generates extra downforce, pushing the car into the ground and giving it more grip in the corners. The argument was that the engine mapping could be equated to movable aero devices, as by lifting off of the throttle components are actually moving. Whether the FIA will actually try to ban this remains to be seen. However, Colin Kolles's argument might well lead to his team protesting in Monaco should other teams use this engine mapping.

Another piece of news which has just emerged relates to the BBC's coverage of the F1. The BAFTAs are currently underway, and BBC Sport received a nomination for their coverage of last years climax to the F1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. News has just broken (literally in the past 15 minutes of me writing this post) that the BBC Sport team have won! Congratulations to them!

A final update is that my article on Michael Schumacher has seemingly reached a wider audience, as the views have shot up on the page! I'm very pleased about this, so thanks to whoever is reading. Whether people have found this because of my mention on the practice or not is unclear, but I'm grateful anyway.

That's about it! Oh, I still have epic hat hair...