I'm typing this at 1:30pm, and already it's been a fair few hours after this weekend's F1 race. This really means only one thing: we're nearing the close of the season, and thus, early starts. Like many people, I work and study during the week. Unlike many students however, I tend to get up before 8am, and often before 7am. So, the weekends are a great opportunity to catch up on sleep. Unfortunately, I'm a die-hard F1 fan, and so we're nearing the part of the year when sleep at all times of the week is sacrificed. Honestly, I don't mind (although I probably look a little zombie-like during the days now) - that is, if I'm treated to an exciting race.
Today's race in Korea was stunning, I thought. One of the best races of the year. Yeah, alright, I'm a Vettel fan, and so I'm likely to say that. However, the entertainment value of today's race wasn't provided by Vettel's win today, but rather the battles that went on behind him. For the first stint of the race, many fans were worried that it would be a walkover for Vettel, and thus a boring race. Sure, it was a walkover for him, but the race was thrilling.
Nico Hulkenberg was undoubtedly my driver of the day - you have to give credit to a guy who runs in a mid-field team and can hold up Hamilton's Mercedes, Alonso's Ferrari, Raikkonen's Lotus (albeit not until the end of the race) and Webber's Red Bull. I have to say that I'm also one of the many people asking why he isn't in a better car, and I'm hoping that he'll take up the spare seat at Lotus next year.
Aside from the Hulkenberg drive, there were many more battles to be seen (Massa, Maldonado et al., anyone?). In addition, the drama provided by the misfortune of Rosberg losing his front wing and Webber's car catching fire (again) meant that the race was anything but boring.
So, I'm left wondering why people believe that a Vettel win equals a boring race? It's not as if the TV only follows the lead driver around the circuit - we do get to see the racing behind him. Sure, I get that people don't want a return to the Schumacher days, when the result was a foregone conclusion. And yes, I understand that Vettel does appear to dominate every season. However, when you look at the facts most of this isn't true.
2011 aside, Vettel's championships have been far from easy. In 2010, he won at the last race. In 2012, we were treated to the most exciting race I've ever seen in Brazil. In 2013 so far, there have been very close battles with Mercedes, Lotus and Ferrari - it's only towards the end of the season that Vettel has 'run away' with the championship lead. Red Bull have also had their fair share of reliability issues this year, and thus the 2013 F1 season is far from over.
While you could say that Vettel's leads in the races make things less unpredictable, I don't believe this is true. Sure, it might be that Vettel wins, but we can still see thrilling races. F1 is more than just one guy leading the championship - there are smaller teams fighting for points, young drivers fighting for a seat and there are still championship contenders chasing Vettel, all of which leads to a spectacle on track.
If you use results to determine how exciting a race is, you could also argue that MotoGP is boring on the strength of Marquez's performances. However, when you actually watch the races, you'll see nothing of the sort (and in fact, I doubt there is anyone out there claiming that it's boring anyway). So why the case with F1?
I honestly think that the problem lies not with what happens on track, but rather our perception of the champions themselves. It's no secret that many people dislike Vettel - the boos every time he's on the podium show this. Lots claim that this is because of Malaysia, however I believe it runs far deeper than that. I think that in general, we dislike sweeping success. We want underdogs to win - not former champions. At least, not multiple championships in a row. When this happens, we tend to detract from success: how many times have we heard the argument 'Well, he has the best car'? How many times has Vettel been accused of cheating (including the recent 'traction control' nonsense)? I think this is wrong - it's up to those behind to catch up, not for the champion to slow down something echoed by Fernando Alonso, Vettel's closest rival.
Recently, F1 pundits have become fed up of the boos on the podium, culminating in Martin Brundle telling the perpetrators 'Please don't do that. That's not correct'. Thankfully, Korea appeared absent of boos (although, this could be to do with the absence of crowds as well). We should remember that an individual's success doesn't detract from the performances of others. Being repeatedly successful doesn't make someone arrogant, a cheater or unworthy. We should celebrate everyone's achievements - whether that's one of the greats (Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton or Raikkonen), or one of the lesser known drivers (Hulkenberg being a classic example I'm sure). Whoever wins the championship this year, we've certainly seen thrilling races and we'd do well to remember this.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
The Rumour Mill and Podium Boos
Well, the European F1 season is over for another year. Last weekend's race in Monza wasn't the most thrilling I must admit, although towards the end there was plenty to see. The Monza race is always a special one: one of only four circuits to have featured in the original 1950 grand prix series (the others being Silverstone, Spa and Monaco), the fastest race on the calendar, and of course the home of the tifosi (Ferrari fanatics). Given the strong links with Ferrari, of course most fans will be rooting for the guys in red overalls, and in particular, Fernando Alonso. As always, I'm a die-hard Vettel fan and so I was cheering on the guys in blue overalls. However, the high speed circuit of Monza is not normally a Red Bull strength (instead, the team is more suited to high-downforce tracks), therefore I never expect too much from this race.
This year, Red Bull must have done something right. On Friday afternoon, Vettel managed to top the timesheets during second practice. He did the same during all three qualifying sessions, giving him another pole position on the 5 year anniversary of his first at Toro Rosso. Right behind him was Mark Webber - a nice end to his final European F1 qualifying session I think. The surprise during qualifying was Nico Hulkenberg, who took third position on the grid (prompting a resurrection of the rumours that he'll be a man in red next year for the tifosi to cheer on - I'll come to that later). Right behind were the Ferraris, although not in the order you'd expect. It was Massa, not Alonso who took fourth position. So, with the scene set for Sunday, it was interesting to see whether the Red Bulls could hold their advantage, or whether the Ferrari fans would have something to celebrate.
Luckily for me, both Red Bulls had a great start, and pulled off into the lead. Massa however had an amazing start, and overtook Mark Webber early on. Alonso wasn't far behind, and once he passed Mark it was only a matter of time before Massa had to give up his second place. Of course, the Ferrari masses were thrilled with Alonso in second, although by this point Vettel was so far down the road that nobody could get anywhere near him. Eventually, Webber managed to regain his third position, and the podium finished with two Red Bulls and one Ferrari on its steps.
Now, Vettel is rarely a popular winner at the best of times - less so when he's beaten the fans' beloved Alonso at Ferrari's home race, so boos were to be expected. However, the lack of celebration at Vettel's wins is becoming a bit of a trend now, and frankly there are a lot of us who are fed up with this. A couple of weeks ago, I participated in Sky F1's 'Ask Crofty' feature and was overwhelmed by responses from Twitter fans (if you'd like your input by the way, find me @MooEvilBoffin). Among these responses, there seemed to be two main camps: those who disliked the booing of Vettel, and those who think he deserves every bit of hatred he gets (I, of course, fall into the former).
The reasoning behind the hatred goes at least all the way back to Malaysia - although I suspect that this may originate with Vettel's championships. The infamous 'Multi 21' incident has left a lot of fans very angry at Vettel's 'arrogance', however I'm sensing a lot of hypocrisy (as many of the same fans were annoyed that Rosberg didn't get past Hamilton in a similar situation in the same race!). Whether the incident was right or wrong in Malaysia will probably be debated forever. Personally, the whole team orders thing is wrong in my opinion, and teammates should be allowed to race - it's not the fault of an individual driver if they do not obey these orders (they're doing their job). Many fans aren't so forgiving, and so the Vettel hatred seems to be growing.
Booing on the podium is now a regular feature, and the F1 fandom is again divided on the issue. Half of us are fed up with it now - all of those guys on the circuit are great drivers. You can't be in F1 without at least a modicum of talent. Whether you're in the best car or the worse, you deserve to be there and I think that you should be respected. A lot of people keep harping on about Vettel only winning championships because he's in the best car - that's simply not true. The only year Vettel had a truly dominant car was in 2011 - and even then his own teammate couldn't match him. The fact that Vettel has broken so many records at such a young age should go to show that we're seeing a legend in the making - like Schumacher (also hated during his first time around), Senna and Fangio. Of course, you can't compare the achievements of these drivers directly due to the changing nature of the sport, but I'd certainly say that Vettel will go on to be one of the best drivers of this era. Whether you like him or not, that's got to be respected, not booed! Luckily, Vettel himself seems to be taking the hatred in his stride, remarking that 'the louder the boos, the better the job we're doing'. Long may that attitude continue.
Now, onto another recent feature of F1 - silly season. We were somewhat deprived of the rumours over the summer break (disappointingly, I thought), however now the rumour mill is in full swing and concerning Ferrari. Massa's seat is up at the end of the year, it seems, and a lot of thought is going in to who is his potential replacement. Many people thought that Nico Hulkenberg would be a great contender - Fernando Alonso wants a number two driver, who'll not get in his way should he be close to a win, and a younger driver like Nico would be a good choice. However, Ferrari now want a driver who'll push Alonso to get everything out of the car, rather than relying on his teammate to protect him. So, who should step into the frame, but Kimi Raikkonen. Recently, the rumour on Twitter that Kimi has signed has been doing the rounds, with an announcement supposedly set for Wednesday. An Alonso-Raikkonen pairing would arguably be the best in the whole grid, however nobody really knows how the two would work together. Alonso would arguably lose his number 1 status in favour of an equal pairing - I suspect Kimi wouldn't care either way. It'll be fascinating to see how the two cope - look at Alonso and Hamilton at McLaren.
A related rumour on Twitter was that Kimi has indeed signed for Ferrari - as Alonso's replacement. Personally, I can't really see Alonso leaving, but Dad had a great theory if that was the case. With Kimi out of Lotus and into Ferrari, there would be a free seat. Flavio Briatore was spotted at the Italian race - a former boss at Renault until the incident with Nelson Piquet Jr. at Singapore a couple of years ago. Briatore and Alonso worked fantastically well together, and it would be feasible to see the two working together once more. Lotus (formerly Renault) have had financial difficulties - something that could easily be solved with the return of Briatore. So, it might just be the case that Alonso and Briatore would be united at Lotus-Renault once more, and who knows where that might lead. It's a million to one chance, but it might just work...
This year, Red Bull must have done something right. On Friday afternoon, Vettel managed to top the timesheets during second practice. He did the same during all three qualifying sessions, giving him another pole position on the 5 year anniversary of his first at Toro Rosso. Right behind him was Mark Webber - a nice end to his final European F1 qualifying session I think. The surprise during qualifying was Nico Hulkenberg, who took third position on the grid (prompting a resurrection of the rumours that he'll be a man in red next year for the tifosi to cheer on - I'll come to that later). Right behind were the Ferraris, although not in the order you'd expect. It was Massa, not Alonso who took fourth position. So, with the scene set for Sunday, it was interesting to see whether the Red Bulls could hold their advantage, or whether the Ferrari fans would have something to celebrate.
Luckily for me, both Red Bulls had a great start, and pulled off into the lead. Massa however had an amazing start, and overtook Mark Webber early on. Alonso wasn't far behind, and once he passed Mark it was only a matter of time before Massa had to give up his second place. Of course, the Ferrari masses were thrilled with Alonso in second, although by this point Vettel was so far down the road that nobody could get anywhere near him. Eventually, Webber managed to regain his third position, and the podium finished with two Red Bulls and one Ferrari on its steps.
Now, Vettel is rarely a popular winner at the best of times - less so when he's beaten the fans' beloved Alonso at Ferrari's home race, so boos were to be expected. However, the lack of celebration at Vettel's wins is becoming a bit of a trend now, and frankly there are a lot of us who are fed up with this. A couple of weeks ago, I participated in Sky F1's 'Ask Crofty' feature and was overwhelmed by responses from Twitter fans (if you'd like your input by the way, find me @MooEvilBoffin). Among these responses, there seemed to be two main camps: those who disliked the booing of Vettel, and those who think he deserves every bit of hatred he gets (I, of course, fall into the former).
The reasoning behind the hatred goes at least all the way back to Malaysia - although I suspect that this may originate with Vettel's championships. The infamous 'Multi 21' incident has left a lot of fans very angry at Vettel's 'arrogance', however I'm sensing a lot of hypocrisy (as many of the same fans were annoyed that Rosberg didn't get past Hamilton in a similar situation in the same race!). Whether the incident was right or wrong in Malaysia will probably be debated forever. Personally, the whole team orders thing is wrong in my opinion, and teammates should be allowed to race - it's not the fault of an individual driver if they do not obey these orders (they're doing their job). Many fans aren't so forgiving, and so the Vettel hatred seems to be growing.
Booing on the podium is now a regular feature, and the F1 fandom is again divided on the issue. Half of us are fed up with it now - all of those guys on the circuit are great drivers. You can't be in F1 without at least a modicum of talent. Whether you're in the best car or the worse, you deserve to be there and I think that you should be respected. A lot of people keep harping on about Vettel only winning championships because he's in the best car - that's simply not true. The only year Vettel had a truly dominant car was in 2011 - and even then his own teammate couldn't match him. The fact that Vettel has broken so many records at such a young age should go to show that we're seeing a legend in the making - like Schumacher (also hated during his first time around), Senna and Fangio. Of course, you can't compare the achievements of these drivers directly due to the changing nature of the sport, but I'd certainly say that Vettel will go on to be one of the best drivers of this era. Whether you like him or not, that's got to be respected, not booed! Luckily, Vettel himself seems to be taking the hatred in his stride, remarking that 'the louder the boos, the better the job we're doing'. Long may that attitude continue.
Now, onto another recent feature of F1 - silly season. We were somewhat deprived of the rumours over the summer break (disappointingly, I thought), however now the rumour mill is in full swing and concerning Ferrari. Massa's seat is up at the end of the year, it seems, and a lot of thought is going in to who is his potential replacement. Many people thought that Nico Hulkenberg would be a great contender - Fernando Alonso wants a number two driver, who'll not get in his way should he be close to a win, and a younger driver like Nico would be a good choice. However, Ferrari now want a driver who'll push Alonso to get everything out of the car, rather than relying on his teammate to protect him. So, who should step into the frame, but Kimi Raikkonen. Recently, the rumour on Twitter that Kimi has signed has been doing the rounds, with an announcement supposedly set for Wednesday. An Alonso-Raikkonen pairing would arguably be the best in the whole grid, however nobody really knows how the two would work together. Alonso would arguably lose his number 1 status in favour of an equal pairing - I suspect Kimi wouldn't care either way. It'll be fascinating to see how the two cope - look at Alonso and Hamilton at McLaren.
A related rumour on Twitter was that Kimi has indeed signed for Ferrari - as Alonso's replacement. Personally, I can't really see Alonso leaving, but Dad had a great theory if that was the case. With Kimi out of Lotus and into Ferrari, there would be a free seat. Flavio Briatore was spotted at the Italian race - a former boss at Renault until the incident with Nelson Piquet Jr. at Singapore a couple of years ago. Briatore and Alonso worked fantastically well together, and it would be feasible to see the two working together once more. Lotus (formerly Renault) have had financial difficulties - something that could easily be solved with the return of Briatore. So, it might just be the case that Alonso and Briatore would be united at Lotus-Renault once more, and who knows where that might lead. It's a million to one chance, but it might just work...
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
It's Been A While...
Ok, I have no excuses. It's been a ridiculously long time since I updated my blog. There are many contributing factors, none of which are linked to motorsport (rather, work, university and life in general), however now I'm hoping that I can get back into the swing of things - especially given the weekend's forthcoming Spa grand prix.
So what's been happening over the past couple of months? Well, recently not that much to tell you the truth. We should be well into 'Silly Season', the part of the F1 calendar when we hear lots of rumours and speculation about who's moving to which team and so on. This year, it hasn't happened, despite a free seat at Red Bull for 2014. In fact, the only real news we've had over the summer break is that Kimi Raikkonen won't be going to Red Bull. I have to say, I'm slightly disappointed with the dearth of speculation - we all like a bit of gossip now and again, but the summer F1 break hasn't really delivered. Hopefully, we'll have some more exciting news when the season gets back underway this weekend, although I suspect all that will happen is the predictable announcement that Daniel Ricciardo will go to partner Vettel. Still, there's still an outside chance that Kimi might go to Ferrari - I doubt it, but we have to get our gossip where we can!
The 2013 F1 season has been exciting - arguably, not as much as in 2012, but still a complete joy to watch. A lot of people are unhappy that Vettel is seemingly running away with the championship once again (I'll admit that I'm not part of that crew), but given that we're only just halfway through the season, I think everything's still to play for - Lotus in particular are looking strong, and so there's every chance Kimi could get another championship. We'll see, come race 19.
With the lack of news in F1 so far, all I really have to talk about is past events that I've seen. A while ago Dad and I ventured up to Silverstone for the F1 young driver's test (YDT). This year was a little bit different: the FIA had bent the rules slightly to allow teams to use their race drivers during the test in order to get used to the new and (supposedly) improved Pirelli tyres following the horrific problems that had been occurring previously. While this didn't mean that the drivers would be racing, it was good news for us as we could see the current F1 drivers in the flesh for another year running, albeit at a 10th of the price of Silverstone proper. In an unexpected bonus, Red Bull announced that Vettel would be driving on Friday - the day we had planned to go and watch! Overall it was a pretty cool sight to see: Silverstone is one of the legendary tracks, but most fans are priced out of going to the race and so watching F1 cars in my own country has thus far been a bit of an elusive sight. However, at £15 per ticket the YDT was a great day out!
The only other news I can really report on isn't related to F1 at all, but rather MotoGP. Motorbike racing is something that I've never really been into - I've always preferred watching 4 wheels going round a track. Last year I started to watch MotoGP off and on, but was put off a little after Simoncelli's accident. However, this year I've gotten back into the swing of things - partly because I'm completely in awe of the new guy on the circuit, Marc Marquez. This guy is completely insane and completely brilliant at the same time. He's leading the championship in his rookie year, and he's a marvel to watch. Admittedly, it's hard to say whether he'd be leading the championship if Lorenzo and Pedrosa hadn't broken their collar bones, but Marquez's performances so far have been stunning. Winning all three American races, a podium in every race this year bar one... You've got to be amazed. Now all I hope is that he finishes the season without injuring himself - having worked in a neurorehabilitation unit over a year, MotoGP does worry me immensely, but with entertainment like this, I can't help but watch.
So, onto the F1 at Spa this weekend. It's scary to think that it's almost a year since Dad and I were there in person. I know that the race will be fantastic - Spa always is - so here's to the season restart (and hopefully more gossip)!
So what's been happening over the past couple of months? Well, recently not that much to tell you the truth. We should be well into 'Silly Season', the part of the F1 calendar when we hear lots of rumours and speculation about who's moving to which team and so on. This year, it hasn't happened, despite a free seat at Red Bull for 2014. In fact, the only real news we've had over the summer break is that Kimi Raikkonen won't be going to Red Bull. I have to say, I'm slightly disappointed with the dearth of speculation - we all like a bit of gossip now and again, but the summer F1 break hasn't really delivered. Hopefully, we'll have some more exciting news when the season gets back underway this weekend, although I suspect all that will happen is the predictable announcement that Daniel Ricciardo will go to partner Vettel. Still, there's still an outside chance that Kimi might go to Ferrari - I doubt it, but we have to get our gossip where we can!
The 2013 F1 season has been exciting - arguably, not as much as in 2012, but still a complete joy to watch. A lot of people are unhappy that Vettel is seemingly running away with the championship once again (I'll admit that I'm not part of that crew), but given that we're only just halfway through the season, I think everything's still to play for - Lotus in particular are looking strong, and so there's every chance Kimi could get another championship. We'll see, come race 19.
With the lack of news in F1 so far, all I really have to talk about is past events that I've seen. A while ago Dad and I ventured up to Silverstone for the F1 young driver's test (YDT). This year was a little bit different: the FIA had bent the rules slightly to allow teams to use their race drivers during the test in order to get used to the new and (supposedly) improved Pirelli tyres following the horrific problems that had been occurring previously. While this didn't mean that the drivers would be racing, it was good news for us as we could see the current F1 drivers in the flesh for another year running, albeit at a 10th of the price of Silverstone proper. In an unexpected bonus, Red Bull announced that Vettel would be driving on Friday - the day we had planned to go and watch! Overall it was a pretty cool sight to see: Silverstone is one of the legendary tracks, but most fans are priced out of going to the race and so watching F1 cars in my own country has thus far been a bit of an elusive sight. However, at £15 per ticket the YDT was a great day out!
The only other news I can really report on isn't related to F1 at all, but rather MotoGP. Motorbike racing is something that I've never really been into - I've always preferred watching 4 wheels going round a track. Last year I started to watch MotoGP off and on, but was put off a little after Simoncelli's accident. However, this year I've gotten back into the swing of things - partly because I'm completely in awe of the new guy on the circuit, Marc Marquez. This guy is completely insane and completely brilliant at the same time. He's leading the championship in his rookie year, and he's a marvel to watch. Admittedly, it's hard to say whether he'd be leading the championship if Lorenzo and Pedrosa hadn't broken their collar bones, but Marquez's performances so far have been stunning. Winning all three American races, a podium in every race this year bar one... You've got to be amazed. Now all I hope is that he finishes the season without injuring himself - having worked in a neurorehabilitation unit over a year, MotoGP does worry me immensely, but with entertainment like this, I can't help but watch.
So, onto the F1 at Spa this weekend. It's scary to think that it's almost a year since Dad and I were there in person. I know that the race will be fantastic - Spa always is - so here's to the season restart (and hopefully more gossip)!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)