Category: Motor Sport

What A Race – Go Maclaren


Formula 1 just keeps on delivering this season. Not only have the new tyre options made for exciting races but the weather at a number of circuits has turned everything on its head. From the very start of Sundays race at the Hungaroring we could see the signs that this was going to be no ordinary race. The cars were very twitchy with all drivers finding it hard to maintain the racing line. Despite that we were presented with Hamilton and Button racing each other, side by side. By Lap 5 Hamilton has passed Vettel and is leading the race which with 65 more laps continued to provide excitement for the fans with spins, overshoots,  overtaking,  exploding cars andand cocked up strategy making for a nail-biting finish.

Vettel has taken over from Schumacher, for me, as the target for any ill luck that I can wish on him. He has had such a charmed run from the beginning of the season that anyone who manages to pass him is my hero. Every mistake he makes ellicits a cheer from my me and I don’t really care who beats him so long as it isn’t Alonso although at a pinch I would even cheer him if he managed to keep Vettel out of the higher points.

There is an element of national pride driving me but to be really honest so long as there is a union jack on the podium I don’t care, even if it’s the one on the Australian flag for Mark Webber. And look at DiResta go. Given  luck, a reliable competitive ride and there will be another driver from the British Isles to harass Vettel.

Now they are off for an enforced break we will just have to bide our time but all the indicators are that the second half of the season is going to be a cracker.

Hamilton and Button are seriously focussed on stopping Vettel from taking the championship and Maclaren have shown that they have the cars to stop the Red Bull machine in its tracks if they can just maintain the momentum shown on Sunday.

Lets not forget that congratulations are due also to Jenson Button for winning his 200th Grand Prix  on the circuit on which he won his very first Grand Prix. What a moment to savour.

Team Orders – Wrong ???


Christian Horner can argue that F1 is a team sport but that is not true.

For a F1 driver winning is all.  To tell a driver not to race, not to overtake, to hold position goes against the grain. It is wrong.

I understand that he, Horner, wants to consolidate the constructors position that Red Bull hold. That is understandable. But his weasley words, about not wanting to lose points by allowing Webber to overtake Vettel, just don’t make sense. Sure, the last think you want as team principal is your drivers taking each other out. But it really doesn’t matter, at the team level, who came in second and third.

However, at the driver level it make a huge difference. The number of points affects your ranking in the championship and lets not forget that all the drivers are fighting for first place.

I am amazed at how controlled Webber is. Time and again he is given orders presenting him as the number two driver. If it’s not orders then he is given second-rate kit or worse still has kit taken away from him.

I understand that Webber has not yet signed his contract to maintain his place as driver for Red Bull into the 2012 season. I am sure he is thinking very hard about whether he wants to carry on in what appears to be the number two slot, to carry on driving without the full support of the team.

Jenson Button – Hero !!!


In the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday, Jenson made what has to possibly be the drive of his career.  It certainly is the drive of the season so far. The statistics of his drive make interesting reading alone. Two accidents, six pit stops and a drive through penalty. These are Jensons contribution to yesterdays race which was arguably the most exciting of the season.

The race contained everything, red flags, safety cars, superb overtaking charges, collisions and not forgetting the penalties.

While Jensons drive from the back of the pack to win the race in the final lap is the stuff of dreams we should not forget the other drivers who were also making this a race to be talked about for months, no years, to come.

While Vettel was out the front for the bulk of the race all the excitement was behind him until Button brought the race to him. The pressure was really on then and Button forced Vettel into a mistake which handed over the race lead and showed that Vettel is fallible.

But lets not forget Michael Schumacher who was also driving his socks off.  he was within sniffing distance of a Podium finish when it was snatched away from him by Mark Webber, more than once, and then Jenson as he ploughed a furrow through the pack.

The fight for that podium place was  riveting and while I was rooting for Webber I really did feel sorry for Schumacher who was making the best drive of his comeback.

And then there was Paul di Resta who was running 5th when he ran into Nick Heidfeld in his Renault. Di Resta had to return to the pits for a nose/wing change but somewhat harshly the stewards decided that he was at fault and hit him with a drive through penalty. Back out and running in 11th place with a chance of finishing in the points he came of worst while trying to pass Williams’ Rubens Barrichello. He ended up on the damp part of the track, made contact with a wall and he was retired from the race with a puncture.

F1 is going through a renaissance. It has long been criticized for being boring, a procession. This season has proven otherwise. The new tyre rules have made a huge difference that’s for sure.  Then you have to add in to the mix  the technology, in the form KERS and DRS. The KERS system is temperamental and with the DRS system only operational during specific  sectors and only if you are chasing down a competitor and only if you are within 1 second.

But you also have to look at the pedigree of the drivers. Never have so many world champions been competing together. That alone would be enough to make for sparks.

Yesterdays was the 7th race of the season. We have been treated to some fabulous racing this season and there are still 12 races to go. Just imagine the possibilities.

Hamilton, Vettel, Webber


What a finish. What a race. I’m unable to decide who deserves the Man of the Race trophy. Hamilton or Webber ? They both drove their socks off. For me I think Webber has the edge considering he didn’t have KERS.