Can't believe we're already a quarter of the way through the season. It's going much too quickly! 6 weeks today and I'll be setting off to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, which if last year was anything to go by, will be an amazing long weekend. I'm planning on buying a sm*rtphone for the weekend so I can still blog while I'm there, and post pictures and videos etc. to give a sort-of-real-time idea of what it's like to attend a Grand Prix - will be interesting to see how that works out. Tickets have started shipping out today, so I'm writing this sitting at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for the postman to arrive...
Q1) The tight and twisty nature of the Monaco circuit is known for difficult overtaking. Do you think we will see drivers take more risks like Hamilton did in 2011, or will it be more about strategy and pitstops?
A: I think we'll see both, but it'll be more skewed towards strategy and pitstops. With Monaco being the prestigious race that it is, drivers will be more willing to take risks to try and move up the order and with overtaking being so difficult, gaining even one position during the race would be an achievement. However, with the way the Pirelli tyres have been this year I think teams may want to be a little more conservative. This of course all depends on whether there's going to be a safety car and the weather, which going by current reports isn't looking too good for practice and qualifying at the moment. Q2) What is it about Monaco that makes it so special, or do you not feel the excitement for Monaco?
A: One answer always seems to crop up - 'it's Monaco!'. No other race on the calendar has so much behind it to create its unique buzz; the history, the prestige, the glitz and glamour, the skill that goes into the preparation of the drivers and teams for the event, the celebrities trying to sound knowledgeable when they're being interviewed for Martin Brundle's gridwalk (and failing miserably - yes, I'm looking at you Nicole Scherzinger and Geri Halliwell):
Q3 [as suggested by @AilishCatherine]) What is your favourite corner on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit and why?
A: There's a couple that stand out from the rest, like Casino Square, as it looks like a real challenge for the drivers coming into it from the top of the hill. The Lowes hairpin is always cool for seeing the cars so close together and snaking slowly and carefully through the streets. And The Tunnel needs no introduction. But I like all of them - the whole track flows brilliantly despite overtaking being impossible, so I guess they're all my favourite.
BONUS) Which Monaco race that you have watched is your ultimate Monaco Grand Prix and why?
A: I'm having to work from word of mouth here as I don't remember watching it myself, but from what I've seen of it now that I'm older, the 1996 race was immense. A real survival of the fittest battle in very tricky conditions, showing just how tough Monaco is on the drivers and their machinery - and Olivier Panis won in a Ligier, with the three drivers on the podium being the only ones to actually finish the race. What's not to like?
*Rainer Brunotte has taken some stunning photographs of Monaco's cityscape, harbour and parts of the Grand Prix circuit as part of the build-up for this year's race, you can see more of his work here
Considering this was Barcelona, which is usually a right bore-fest, I'd say this year's race was pretty epic! This was helped no doubt by watching it at the pub and making some new F1 friends (see F1 in Pubs for more details on where you can watch in the UK). 5 different winners, from 5 different constructors, in 5 races just shows how crazy the 2012 season has been up to now. Also, big happy birthday to Fan Formula's founder @GraceF1Fanatic, hope you have a lovely day!
Q1) Qualifying saw Hamilton's penalty and Karthikeyan qualifying outside the 107% rule. What do you make of both incidents and the resulting stewards decisions?
A: It's not the first time McLaren have under-fueled one of their cars in qualifying, deliberately or otherwise. The rule saying the cars have to get back to parc ferme under their own power was tightened because of McLaren's exploits at Canada in 2010, where Lewis had to push his car back to the pits. Even though I think this time the team made an honest mistake, the FIA had to be seen to be taking action as it does create an unfair advantage. However, I thought exclusion from qualifying and being put to the back of the grid was a little harsh. If it was me, I'd have excluded him for Q3 and calculated his grid position from his Q2 time, which would have put him 11th, and maybe have stripped McLaren of constructors points for that race as it was the team's fault that he didn't have enough fuel.
As for Karthikeyan being allowed to race, it makes a complete mockery of the 107% rule. What's the point of having it if it isn't going to be enforced? It's decisions like this that are making the FIA so inconsistent and enduring the wrath of fans. In my opinion, the rule should be modified - unless you have a mechanical problem during qualifying that prevents you from setting a time, then anyone who qualifies outside 107% should not be allowed to race at all. If someone does have a breakdown, only then should the FIA look at their times in practice to assess if they have the pace to keep up.
Q2 [as suggested by @squiffany]) In the Senna vs Schumacher crash, who do you think was at fault?
A: Both drivers had part to blame, but Schumacher was more at fault. I imagine that he would have been told about Senna struggling for grip over his radio, and so a driver of his experience should have been much more aware of his closing speed. Having said that, Senna did move ever-so-slightly left just before going into Turn 1 - I don't know whether that was because of a lack of grip under braking or him trying to fend off Schumacher, but it did play a part in the accident, so in hindsight Senna maybe should have made it a little easier for him to pass if his tyres were that badly worn. A 5-place grid drop for Schumacher in Monaco was deserved though, as it was a silly accident that didn't really need to happen.
Q3) Maldonado took his first victory in Spain (the first win for Williams since 2004). Do you think this signals the return of Williams to the top of the grid, or is this just another topsy turvey result for the 2012 season?
A: It's hard to say, as the way the 2012 season is going it's impossible to even make a calculated guess as to what's going to happen! But Williams have clearly made a much better car than those of the last couple of seasons and now that they've won one race, I don't see why they can't win another. It'll take a lot of luck and skill to get the Pirelli tyres to work in their favour, but that's the case for all the teams this year.
Going slightly off-topic, I'm sure everyone was shocked to see the fire that engulfed the Williams garage about an hour after the podium ceremony. It made what was a brilliant and emotional result for the team so bittersweet, though it was very heartening to see such bravery and teamwork from everyone up and down the pitlane to try and help put the fire out. It's events like this that show that Formula 1 is fundamentally a team sport and that at the end of the day, we're all one big family.
BONUS) Who would you say drove the best race at Catalunya and why?
A: Now this is a hard one because no-one really had a race that stood out as being amazing, most of them making the best of a good or bad situation. In the end I've chosen three drivers - Maldonado, Vettel and Hamilton. Pastor stood up to immense pressure from Alonso all race long to produce a very mature drive to silence his critics (including myself), while Sebastian and Lewis pulled off some brilliant overtakes to shoot through the field, albeit they shouldn't have been that far back in the first place (with Lewis' penalty, and Sebastian's drive through and strange front wing problem). But it all made for an exciting race - maybe we'll see a different driver and constructor take the win in Monaco!
There hasn't been many people, in life and in death, that have captivated the world of motorsport in such a way that they become the stuff of legend. But Gilles Villeneuve can undoubtedly be included in that category.
The son of a piano tuner, Villeneuve seemed set for a career in music, had it not been for his fascination with speed and engineering from a young age. Aged eleven, he was let loose with a pick-up truck in a field close to the family's Quebec home, with the young Gilles later taking their lawnmower engine and pieces of plywood to make a go-kart. As a teenager he 'borrowed' his father's Pontiac Grande Parisienne to test its top speed, only to skid on a wet road and crash into a telephone pole. This first taste of speed's dangers did little to deter him, however, and he was soon honing his craft in the world of snowmobile racing. It was these years of sliding on ice at over 100 mph, that he would later claim helped craft his incredible capability to control cars in wet conditions.
The transition to single-seater racing was not so smooth. Living on the breadline with his young family in a pre-fab home, Villeneuve was resorting to stealing tools from local shops to save money. Only by selling the house and converting a disused school bus into a motorhome/workshop did he raise the money to compete in Formula Ford and Formula Atlantic, which he did with gradual success. It was in the latter that he beat F1 world champion James Hunt, in a non-championship event at Trois-Rivieres in 1976, and impressed Hunt so much that he persuaded McLaren to give Gilles a Formula 1 drive at Silverstone the following year. Qualifying 9th and finishing 11th in a year-old car, he would have finished much higher up the order had it not been for a faulty temperature gauge costing him precious time. Regardless, McLaren decided not to keep him on due to his lack of experience, and was instead recruited by Ferrari. In a sport where courage, determination and downright stubbornness are standard, Gilles took these qualities to a whole new level - producing some of the best racing, and some of the most outrageous actions, Formula 1 has ever seen:
His ferocious speed and questionable sanity can be epitomised with his performance at the 1979 United States Grand Prix, at Watkins Glen. On a soaking wet track in practice, Villeneuve was setting times that were up to 11 seconds faster than his rivals, including his teammate, and that year's world champion, Jody Scheckter. While others were nursing their cars so as not to crash, Gilles was pulling everything out of the car in order to try to better it and himself. These examples of commitment weren't only confined to the racetrack, however - Villeneuve seemingly didn't understand the meaning of the word 'slow'. On public roads he would drive flat-out, incurring hundreds of speeding tickets (many of which were forgotten about with a quick signed photo, especially in Italy) and he would manhandle his speedboat and helicopter at unthinkable speeds.
But behind this recklessness he was quiet and softly-spoken, a man of strong principles that always conducted himself with the utmost honesty and expected others to do the same. Indeed, it was his teammate Didier Pironi's breaking of a team orders agreement between them, at the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix, that many say cost Gilles his life. Incensed at Pironi's lack of sanctity for a promise, he headed to the next race at Zolder with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove. On 8th May 1982, while trying to improve his time in qualifying to beat Pironi, a misunderstanding with Jochen Mass over where to move over resulted in him driving into the back of Mass' March at over 120mph. The Ferrari was thrown into the air, flipped and nose-dived into the track. The force of the impact was so great that Villeneuve, still strapped to his seat but now without his helmet, was catapulted into catch-fencing over 50 metres away. He died from critical head and neck injuries later that night.
Gilles Villeneuve has become quite special to me as a fan, as he's the main reason why I've become so interested in motorsport and Formula 1 in particular. I was given a brilliant biography of his life as a gift about 4 years ago, which describes all of the above in vivid detail (and which the info for most of this post has come from). Being born nearly 10 years after his death it gave a wonderful insight into how the sport and its stars worked back then, and was the impetus for me to learn more about its history. However, Gilles' story really struck a chord with me. His dogged determination, although often bordering on the reckless and selfish, and his passion for the sport that he loved was proof that if you could set your mind to what you want to achieve, then there's no reason why you can't. Which makes it all the more tragic that he never got to fulfill his wish and that of his many fans - to win the world championship he rightly deserved.
A pretty quiet week in Formula 1, but there's been tonnes of other motorsport on today (Sunday) - British Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Championship, DTM, Formula Two, MotoGP and IndyCar. Too much sport!
Q1) In-season testing returns this year after being banned in 2009. Are you glad to see an official in-season test return to F1?
A: Yes and no. Yes because the fans have even more time to see the cars on track and teams have more opportunity to develop updates, but it doesn't send out a very good message about a sport which has publicly committed to cut costs. The reaction to the return of in-season testing has also been mixed - Fernando Alonso has stated that the Mugello test will be important for Ferrari to try and gain some ground on the front-runners, while others, such as McLaren's Paddy Lowe, have admitted that they don't need an in-season test and that holding one is just another burden on the team's budget and logistics. He even went as far to suggest that he didn't think there would be another in-season test after this year. Doesn't bode well...
Q2 [as suggested by @cwhite90999]) Do you think it is a mistake for HRT to not attend the test?
A: A month or so ago I said that the 'new' teams, HRT and Marussia in particular, can't even begin to dream of catching up to the others if they can't attend testing and I still stand by that. However for a team like HRT, who have so little money compared to the likes of outfits such as cash-strapped Williams, attending a test in which they're not going to gain much in terms of performance or data-gathering would be a big strain on their already limited resources. So in that sense it seems like a sensible decision to miss out on the test, and one where they could divert the money saved into development for next year's car.
Q3) Do you think that having the test after only 4 races makes the test slightly less effective than it could be if it were later along in the calendar?
A: If anything I think it makes it more effective. Having the Mugello test 10 or so days before the Spanish GP will allow the teams to trial some of their big updates for that race, and with the way this season has unfolded up to now this could either bunch up the pack even more or give us a slightly better idea of a front-running order.
BONUS) What do you make of the Young Drivers test potentially being brought forward and being held at Silverstone this year?
A: I think it's a great idea. Even with the clause allowing all teams to go to Abu Dhabi at short notice due to bad weather, and Red Bull and Toro Rosso preferring to go to Abu Dhabi in the first place, I'd like to think that the huge following Formula 1 has in the UK would mean the test would be very well attended by fans. If there was some sort of discount or special offer for those of us going to the British Grand Prix, that would be perfect (are you listening Bernie?)
Hello everyone! Firstly apologies for not doing any #FanFormula posts for the last couple of weeks, I've had various events back home which meant that I couldn't write my thoughts up. Hopefully, normal service will now resume.
Q1) Friday saw Force India pull out of FP2 due to an incident involving their team personnel on the Wednesday night. What did you make of their decision and the controversy around FOM showing no coverage of the team during qualifying?
A: After what happened to those Force India mechanics I really don't blame some of them for going home. It was interesting to hear deputy team principal Bob Fernley say that the team were pretty much on the verge of a meltdown, had they not skipped FP2 to get back their hotel before sunset, so in that sense I thought it was a sensible decision and one that was for the the greater good of the team. Though it didn't seem to affect their performance all that much, with Paul Di Resta equalling his best-ever finish in Formula 1 by crossing the line in 6th.
However, qualifying in particular will be remembered for FOM's apparent snub of the team's performance. It's fair to say that Force India have had a somewhat lukewarm start to this season, so making Q3 was quite an achievement that many weren't expecting. Unfortunately we never got to see any of their hard work, as hardly a shot of them made our TV screens. Social media went rife with conspiracy theories that Bernie Ecclestone had ordered FOM not to cover the team as revenge for them missing FP2, while Bernie's comments on the matter didn't help:
"Nobody cares if someone is 9th or 11th, only the people that are watching a particular team"
By that logic, no-one cared when Michael Schumacher only qualified 18th due to problems; no-one cared when Sebastian Vettel qualified 11th in China; no-one cared when Kimi Raikkonen qualified 18th on his return to the sport in Australia, after so much hype. I often wonder if Bernie makes these controversial comments just to draw more attention to the sport (as the saying goes, any publicity is good publicity). At a time when the whole world has been scrutinising Formula 1, comments such as these show that he's becoming increasingly out-of-touch and as such, it really wouldn't surprise me if he did order FOM to snub the Force India's as revenge.
Q2 [as suggested by @HedgeryHoops]) The stewards reviewed the two incidents between Nico Rosberg and Hamilton/Alonso and have decided not to penalise him. Do you agree with their decision? If not, what would you have done?
A: No I don't agree! I couldn't believe what I was seeing as the incidents, especially the one with Hamilton, reminded me of the Schumacher and Barrichello incident at Hungary 2010:
If it had been another few centimetres Hamilton would have slammed into that barrier, and if that run-off had been grass instead of concrete a crash would have been almost certain to happen. At least Schumi had the good grace to apologise to Rubens after their scrap, unlike Nico, who defended his actions and said that it was good racing. He's entitled to his opinion but in my view pushing another racer off the track, especially so close to barriers and walls, is completely unacceptable and downright dangerous, and he should have been given a drive-through penalty for both incidents.
Q3) Bahrain was our first dry race of the season, which saw the first win for Red Bull and a double podium for Lotus. Do you think that this indicates that even without weather intervening, that the grid is a lot closer this year and that we will continue to see a variety of drivers and constructors on the podium for the rest of the season?
A: The grid has definitely been much closer this year and that's been evident in qualifying, with the top 10 in Bahrain (barring Alonso and Di Resta, who didn't set times in order to save tyres) being covered by just under a second. Red Bull not being the dominant force they were last year, Ferrari struggling, McLaren's pitstop problems, Mercedes' tyre wear and Lotus' pace have really opened up this year's championship and have given us some great racing up to now, which makes a nice change from the domination of last year. Having said that, with Spain being the traditional time of the teams bringing big updates, I think the top 4 teams (McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Lotus) will pull away slightly from then on, but the way the results have gone up to now it would be silly to make any concrete guess as to how the rest of the season may unfold.
BONUS) Who was your driver of the day and why?
A: This is a really hard one to answer. There were quite a few great drives to choose from - Vettel did what he does best and left the rest for dust after starting from the front; Webber scored his fourth 4th place in a row in a great show of consistency; Raikkonen performed some great overtaking, as well as using the set of soft tyres he saved in qualifying to challenge Vettel for the win; and Di Resta managed to make a 2-stop strategy work despite a late charge from Alonso.
But my driver of the day is everyone's favourite croissant/giraffe/Sid the Sloth, Romain Grosjean. He finally proved that he has the raw pace to score podiums, maybe even wins, and gave Raikkonen a good run for a while before having to yield to save his tyres. It was a very mature drive and I have a feeling we'll be seeing much more of him on the podium, as long as he can keep out of trouble!
10% into the season already. I can tell this year is going to absolutely fly by...
Q1) In the past two races we have seen four different constructors on the podium. With the recent break do you think that any teams in particular will have made a large improvement or will this only occur by the European leg of the calendar?
A: I said in my last post that I don't think we'll see any major improvements until everyone brings updates to the Spanish GP, but then I remembered that Ferrari are giving Felipe Massa a brand new chassis for the Chinese GP. So we could well see a big improvement from them if Massa responds well to the new car, which I hope he does as it's been quite sad seeing him flounder in the lower-midfield up to now.
In the meantime, I think we'll see some improvement from Lotus. The only reason they don't have more points is because of sheer bad luck, with Kimi Raikkonen's gearbox problem in Malaysia and Romain Grosjean's bumper-cars in both races costing them chances of podiums. Whether they can keep up in the development race come mid-season is another matter, and one which they didn't seem to cope well with last year...
Q2) This weekend has seen the 'kick off' for some of the lower series, including BTCC, Clio Cup and (during the Malaysian race weekend) IndyCar. Have you watched any of these series, and if so why and how?
A: I've watched all the above, bar the Clio Cup, as I just happened to be busy when they were on the TV! This year I'm trying to make more of an effort to get into other forms of motorsport that are on TV - as fun as single-seaters are, there's many more series out there that give the same, though usually rather different, thrills when you watch. BTCC in particular was brilliant and it was great to see it back in it's carnage-ridden, controversy-fuelled glory, while I've only really been watching IndyCar because of Rubens Barrichello's recent move there. The race from Barber was a great watch though, so much overtaking! I'll be keeping an eye on the Indy Lights series too, as local lad Oli Webb makes his American debut this year.
Q3) With the Crazy Chinese Grand Prix fast approaching, it will be the first Grand Prix that the BBC will have live and be in direct competition with Sky. Who do you think will be the channel that the majority choose and which will you be watching live?
A: The BBC will win hands down - free-to-air will always win over pay-per-view, no matter how different the channel's approaches to presentation, analysis etc. are as it's just easier for the majority to access. Personally I'll be watching the race on the BBC, as I miss the more laid-back camaraderie between Jake, David and Eddie and I'm warming towards Ben Edwards' commentary with every race.
BONUS) Vettel referred to Karthikeyan as a 'cucumber' after the Malaysian GP but if you could represent a driver of your choice as food, which food would it be and why?
A: I wasn't observant enough to notice this myself, but a few weeks ago @theFakeVettel was comparing Romain Grosjean to a croissant. Not only are they both French (well, one's from Geneva but I think we'll let him off) and quite warm and lovely, I think the likeness between them is rather uncanny...
I think I've just about caught my breath back from last week! Malaysia was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions - if you ever needed proof of how great a sport Formula 1 is, you had it all in that race. A must-watch for any newbies to the sport out there.
Q1) We saw two incidents involving the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan and a 'front runner' during the race today, none of which appeared to be the HRT's fault. What is your view on the incidents? Do you think that the front runners were overconfident that the HRT would be easy to pass, and that's what caused the incidents, or was it purely just driver error?
A: Both incidents were due to overconfidence and driver error. The awful conditions at Sepang were a big influence but it should never be assumed that passing back-markers will be easy, which Button and Vettel did to some extent. They were unfortunate incidents but that's racing, it happens.
A rather different finger than what we've been used to...
On a side-note, as a big Vettel fan I was very vocal on Twitter in my disappointment with his behaviour and comments about Karthikeyan. Fair enough, it had been a tough race for him and it must be very frustrating being in a car that isn't where you want to be at the moment, but that doesn't give you the right to flip your middle finger up at someone and call them silly names (a cucumber? Really?). It made him look like a child and it certainly isn't the behaviour one would expect of a double world champion. I sympathised a lot with Karthikeyan's comments about some front-runners "bullying" back-markers into slowing down, it must be incredibly difficult to be effectively running two races at once - trying to do the best you can with your own machinery, while trying not to mess up the others' strategies. I just hope that the matter can be put to bed and that any grudges will be settled sensibly and/or forgotten about, so we can all concentrate on the racing.
Q2) With Sergio Perez completing an incredible race and battle with rumoured future team-mate Fernando Alonso, do you think this adds extra pressure on Felipe Massa and do you think we will see a mid-season driver change at Ferrari?
A: Firstly a big congratulations to Perez on such a brilliant drive, keeping Alonso honest is no mean feat! It definitely puts a heap of pressure on Massa to perform, as if he didn't have enough already. I don't know whether it's because of his awful accident a couple of years ago but he just seems to have lost something, he doesn't seem like the same guy who was fighting Lewis Hamilton for the championship back in 2008. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Perez replaced him in 2013, but coming in mid-season this year would be a disaster. Not only is Perez still young and in need of the continuity Sauber are providing, but the last time Ferrari had to make a driver change mid-season it didn't go all that well... good things come to those who wait, so I think it would benefit everyone if Ferrari waited until the end of the season to make a decision.
Q3) The mixed weather conditions really played into the midfield teams' hands, with 9 different constructors making up the top 10 in the results. Do you think this trend will continue across the season or do you think the top teams will pull away from the pack?
A: In short, no. It's tradition that the teams bring massive updates for the Spanish GP so I think we'll see the top 4 teams (McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, maybe Lotus at the expense of Ferrari this year) pull away from the rest of the pack from that race on. I hope not though, would be nice to see a season as close as the first couple of races!
BONUS) Who was your driver of the day and why?
A: It would have been Perez, had he not gone wide when it counted. I'd like to think that the radio message given to him didn't put him off, but I think it might have done in some way (I don't subscribe to the whole team orders rubbish here, though). Such a shame because without that little mistake he would have got the win, without a shadow of a doubt. So because of that, my driver of the day was Fernando Alonso, as he did what he does best - getting the absolute best out of a dog of a car. Flawless.
