Sunday, March 24, 2013

Formula 1.. An expensive reality show?

Did you watch the Malaysian Grand Prix today?

Sebastian Vettel won the race even though he was given orders not to challenge his team mate, Mark Webber, for the lead. 

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, placed third in the race, admits that his team mate, Nico Rosberg, should have been allowed to pass and take third place.

Hamilton in the post race interview told how he turned down his car to save fuel, but Nico Rosberg was told on the car radio during the race that Hamilton had also been ‘turned’ down too.

So, do drivers turn their own car down or is it done from the pit wall? If it can be done from the pit wall, why wasn’t Vettel’s car turned down to prevent him passing Webber?

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Hamilton has had his car turned down. He complained during one of the races last year.

It wasn’t too many years ago when the championship looked like it was going to be taken by Felipe Massa, and it would have been had Timo Glock not inexplicably stopped before the finish flag. This event pushed Lewis Hamilton up the finishing order just enough that he could ‘pip’ Massa on points won.

Ferrari completely lost the plot during 2005/6 re reliability and knowing how to run a pit crew team to the point where Ferrnando Alonso and the Renault team won two years in a row. At the Italian Grand Prix of 2006, Michael Schumacher announced that he was retiring. I don’t think to this day that the decision was his. Many didn’t like the fact that Schumi kept on winning, so were the Ferrari team problems of 2005/6 a set up to get rid of him? Constantly changing the rules hadn’t done any good.

Strangely, the next year,2007, with Kimi Raikonnen at the wheel, Ferrari remembered what Formula 1 was all about and won again.

Schumi was always in trouble for using devious tactics like overtaking, blocking etc. Ayrton Senna. claimed by many to be the greatest driver of all time, did this to the point of almost being lethal. Why were Senna’s tactics ok but Schumi’s weren’t?

I used to like watching Formula 1. Now I just watch the start to see how many cars crash out on the first corner. The ‘telemetry’ thing where car performance can be altered from the pit wall has taken more away from racing than ever traction control did.

I want Kimi Raikonnen to win, but will Formula 1 politics allow it? Who knows?

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Some advice.. well, maybe a warning..

There is nothing wrong in hoping that tomorrow will be better. Just don’t sit around for all of today doing it..