July 2010 Archives

Here we are in Hungary. The perfect excuse to post some Python:

I've never placed a sports bet in my life, but I just put £10 on Felipe Massa winning on Sunday.

Might sound like madness given what happened in Germany, but Felipe looked like a changed man in today's press conference. He had an air of defiance. Having obeyed his bosses on lap 49 last Sunday, he has since discussed the situation internally "with everyone" and has, it would appear, stated his intention not to yield again as long as he has a mathematical chance of winning the championship.

"All I can say is I'm very strong and looking forward to the victory," he said. "I will fight for the victory here, whatever the conditions. I will win. As long as I'm in the position to win, we must fight for the victory."

Countryman Rubens Barrichello, who found himself in Massa's shoes between 2000 and 2005 having to play bridesmaid to Michael Schumacher, telephoned the Ferrari driver earlier this week to commiserate and offer his advice. For Alonso to win because of team orders, he says, holds no honour. "If you win the world championship by one point because someone let you past, what's the point?"

Rubens left Ferrari because he grew tired of his 'number two' status. Massa says he refuses to agree to such constraints. "The time I say I'm the number two driver, I will not race anymore."

Massa thrives around the Hungaroring. In 2008 he drove one of the most impressive races of his life, stealing the lead from Lewis Hamilton at the start only for his engine to let him down in a plume of white smoke. A year on from his horrific accident (and the tyre marks Massa left are still clearly visible on the track) it would be fitting if the little Brazilian score maximum points here. Especially after the farce that was the German Grand Prix.

That's what I'm hoping, anyway. Now I have a vested interest.

Formula One arrives in Hungary still reeling from Ferrari's blatant and illegal use of team orders. We still await a date for the FIA's World Motorsport Council meeting, which could inflict further penalties on the Scuderia, on top of it's $100,000 fine.

Fernando Alonso's comments this week that the win in Germany six days ago was "a great feeling" adds further insult to fans who feel they were robbed of a real race. And no one feels more robbed than Felipe Massa. But at the end of the day it was his decision to yield when told his team mate was faster.

As Jenson Button echoed this week, when told your team mate is catching you most drivers out there would take that as a message to speed up. But that's not how it works at Ferrari, seemingly.

Massa must be feeling very emotional arriving in Budapest, not least because of recent events. Twelve months ago he nearly lost his life at the tight and twisty Hungaroring when a heavy spring fell off Rubens Barrichello's car and hit him in the face.

"My first meeting when I arrive at the circuit will be with all the marshals and medical staff who did such a very good job of carefully getting me out of the cockpit. I want to thank these people, with whom I now feel a special bond," says Felipe.

"I had to stay in hospital for a week after the accident and I got to know the staff, who all treated me so well and one unusual result of the whole unfortunate episode is that I know I now have a lot more fans in Hungary."

For the teams, its been a race just getting to the country. Back-to-back races demand the team starts packing up before the grand prix has finished. By 10pm after the German GP the trucks were headed for the Austrian border, and arrived in Hungary 14 hours later, using signed driver caps and cans of energy drink to expedite their passage across the border.

Ferrari were accused of cheating after the team asked Felipe Massa to allow Fernando Alonso past and lead a one-two victory in Germany.

Team orders have been outlawed in Formula One since 2002, when Ferrari stage-managed the result of that year's Austrian Grand Prix in Michael Schumacher's favour. It's a difficult thing to police, with many teams using codes to issue instructions. But there was little code used when Massa's engineer, Rob Smedley, told his man: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand this message?" After Massa yielded on lap 49, Smedley radioed "sorry".

Team boss Stefano Domenicalli denies this was an order, merely a "briefing on the situation."

It comes one year to the day that Massa nearly died on-track in Budapest. It would have been a wonderful reward. On the podium, Felipe looked like he needed a hug. When Alonso took the chequered flag he was quick to ask his team "how is Felipe?"

Ferrari needed this win after months of lackluster results. It was an impressive display, with Red Bull hardly getting a look in and the field lapped up to seventh place.
 
But rival teams are set to protest the result and the FIA are investigating. This could be a test of Jean Todt's presidency. In the post-race press conference there was no applause - a few boos and some tough questions aimed at Alonso. Massa stated that he had been struggling on the hard compound tyres, which allowed Alonso past. But he put his real message across when he said: "I'm professional, and today I showed how professional I am. Everybody saw today I can win races."

Alonso was 31 points ahead of Massa coming into this weekend, and is therefore Ferrari's main hope when it comes to the title. Therefore, Ferrari will argue it was a pragmatic decision. Leading up to the position change, Domenicalli was waving his arms around as he sat on the pitwall, while chief engineer Chris Dyer urged his boss to wait. Once Alonso went P1, the Ferrari brass sat in silence with their arms crossed.

"We have seen team mates crash into each other, losing 42 points. Today Ferrari has 42 points in the pocket," Alonso justified.

For Smedley, it was a difficult day. On the slow-down lap, the Yorkshireman shared some kind words: "Felipe Massa is back in business. Very magnanimous. You won't have any idea what that word means, but I'll explain it to you later..."
 

There's a lot of speculation this weekend as to whether we'll be going to Korea in October.

Charlie Whiting visited the circuit on July 15, and there's another inspection planned for August. The expected date of completion keeps getting put back. According to the FIA, Whiting was "fully satisfied" with the circuit's build and safety standards, and that the governing body is confident it will be finished in time.

However, the track appears to be a long way behind where Abu Dhabi was this time last year. According to Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary, who visited the circuit after Silverstone, Abu Dhabi had 11,000 workers toiling 24hrs a day. Korea has just 600.

The roads to the track are far from finished, and it's been confirmed a lot of the infrastructure (hotels, shops, marina etc) won't be completed till 2011.

But the most worrying bit is the track itself. Look closely at the grey stuff Charlie and co are standing on here:



That's not tarmac, that's gravel. And it gets worse - other than the grid, the rest of the track is just mud, with outlines where the circuit should be.

Now, I'm no architect or builder so I have no idea how quickly they can get all this finished. There's 12 weeks left to run.

Put it this way, though, I'm not booking my travel yet.

Now to the latest rumour... If Korea doesn't happen, we're going back to Magny Cours.

Yes, you read that right. It doesn't mean it will happen. In fact, it's very unlikely. Magny Cours in October? Bernie hates the place anyway. But I would love to see it happen, not least because I already found an ace chateau there in 2008. Get in quick and book your rooms before the locals hear the rumours... or not.

Christian Horner dispelled any suggestion that Red Bull is favouring one driver over the other at a Casio event this afternoon.

There was one question we wanted the answer to. Which driver got his new RBR-branded watch first? "They were given their watches at the same time," deadpaned Horner. "We also have plenty of spares and they're all of the same specification, so I can't see there being any issues with watches this weekend."

The event was hosted by BBC double act David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan. EJ stumbled onto the stage not making a lot of sense, and then skipped a page in the script which confused everyone on the stage - not least Casio's global marketing bod who didn't seem to speak much english and spoke off an autocue even more incomprehensibly than the Irishman.

DC struggled to introduce the politely smiling man, complaining he had a hard time getting his tongue around Japanese names. "But I had a Japanese girlfriend once, and didn't have any trouble getting my tongue around her."

At Silverstone I gave you a multiple choice quiz to find just what bonkers pearls of wisdom Britain's greatest ever commentator had blurted out. Match them up here:

1.    a
2.    d
3.    d
4.    b
5.    b
6.    b
7.    c
8.    c
9.    d
10.    b

With six German drivers in the field, including the returning hero Michael Schumacher and championship contender Sebastian Vettel, the klaxon-wielding fans at Hockenheim are likely to be deafening.

Schumacher's season seems to have flat-lined, while team mate and countryman Nico Rosberg took his third podium of the season at Silverstone. Michael has won at this 'Ring four times, and a starling six times up the road at the Nurburgring. On current form, though, it's Vettel that's going to be the flag bearer.

Vettel is bruised after the British Grand Prix, when a puncture took him out of contention, and Mark Webber's angry comments about being the No.2 have cast Vettel, rightly or wrongly, as the recipient of preferential treatment from Red Bull Racing.

Schumacher remains the only German to win the Formula One World Championship, but Vettel, who was nicknamed "Baby Schumi" when he made his GP debut aged 19, is out to change that this year.

Hockenheim was a spectacularly fast and dangerous circuit until it was neutered in 2002. The long forest straights have gone, and with it the atmosphere that made the track what it was. But that doesn't mean to say the new track doesn't provide excitement. No, I predict that Sunday is going to be a belter.

The hairpin provides overtaking opportunities galore, as cars downshift from seventh to second, and shave off 240km/h. Judging one's braking is critical, as is power application at the apex so as to achieve maximum get-away traction.

I had first-hand experience of this this week, when I was given exclusive access to Red Bull's state-of-the-art simulator. In 15 laps, I spun seven times at this corner - not easy!

Another element that will spice things up grandly come the race are the tyres. Bridgestone are experimenting with a greater disparity of compounds. With drivers forced to use both hard and soft compound rubber, we're likely to see a two-stop race with the softs lasting between 10 and 15 laps of the 67 lap distance.

Just as Canada saw severe degradation, and  a thoroughly exciting race, Germany should serve up a thrilling battle from lights to flag.

Some readers might remember that in Turkey us journos got to compete in the FX Pro Currency Race in the Virgin motorhome, where one lucky git who knew more about the value of Yen versus the Dollar than me managed to walk home with an oversized comedy cheque. Well, now you can play it too.



Your performance is dictated by the value of whatever you're (pretend) buying, in live time. Click here and if you come out on top you could win prizes to some prestigious sporting events. Currently the leader is a chap called RSchumacher, which sounds unlikely.

Speaking a Ralf, here's a message from our friend Sniff Petrol.

Sebastian Vettel's front wing had a double vane on the outer end plate, while Mark Webber's was a single vane. That's all, not an earth shattering difference. Christian Horner argues it offered nothing more than a characteristics change, others say it was worth a tenth. Either way, it wasn't a huge step forward, but the team has allowed this little bit of carbon fibre to become a smoking gun.

McLaren couldn't resist sticking the knife in. "We try very hard to give the drivers the same equipment at the same time. That's important," said Martin Whitmarsh. "I think the cohesiveness of the team is such that you don't need to set up those sorts of tensions. You can't really do that. And if you're in a very strong position then I think you have to make sure you hold it together."

It wasn't Seb's fault his wing came detached in practice, but to physically unscrew the other updated wing from Mark's car and give it to his rival was, in my opinion, unfair to the Australian and totally de-motivating to his side of the garage. More than that, it was stupid because it's reopened the scab from Turkey, compounding the perception that Helmut Marko and Dietrich Mateschitz only want to see Vettel win. The trouble is, if Seb wins thanks to boardroom backing, that won't play well with the fans. It is sensationally bad PR for the team and for the brand.

The pair are so close on points and performance you couldn't put a Rizla paper between them. So why favour one over the other?

Horner says he didn't consult Marko, just Adrian Newey, as to who should have got the new wing. "I can't cut it in two," said Christian after the race. No, but if it only offers a characteristic change, and having seen how seething Mark was when told of your decision Christian, you might have considered not using it at all.

Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard were both cast as number twos, but rarely did either show the kind of brilliance Mark has shown three times this year.  Still, they didn't like it but they kept their grievances in-house. Not Mark, and I admire that. By saying on the radio in response to Horner's congratulatory message "Not bad for a number two" he has taken his case public.

Some have said it was a petulant comment he may regret. Personally I'm all for drivers speaking their mind, and it should be no surprise Mark did so. He doesn't take any shit.

I greatly admire what Christian has done with RBR, but I believe he mishandled the immediate aftermath of Turkey and he made a naïve error on Saturday, thinking it wouldn't blow up into a big deal.

Personally, I love a good underdog story. That's why it was so great to see Jenson rebound from the verge of redundancy last year to claim the title. Should Webber take the championship in the wake these controversies, the podium champagne will taste all the sweeter.

"You judge a person's character by how they come back from adversity," said Mark yesterday. Quite how Red Bull's PR machine will bounce back from the adversity of a Webber win, it will be interesting to see.

British Grand Prix winner Mark Webber described his impressive victory as "an appointment with karma" after Red Bull Racing's management had once again shown favoritism towards team mate Sebastian Vettel. As he took the chequered flag, Webber radioed his boss, Christian Horner, saying "Not bad for a number two driver". It was a barb every bit as sharp and aggressive as the move he put on pole-sitter Seb through Turn 1.

Red Bull had developed a new front wing for Silverstone, and had manufactured only two. One of these was wrecked when Vettel hit a bump in practice and the wing detached. Horner made the controversial decision that, based on the championship standings - Vettel started the weekend with 12 points more than Webber - the remaining wing should be detached from the Australian's car and given to Vettel for qualifying and the race.

It comes five weeks after the pair collided in Turkey. Webber was immediately blamed by the team's management, before video replays proved it was Vettel that was at fault.

It is believed the new wing was worth around a tenth of a second. Vettel's qualifying time was 0.14 seconds faster than Webber's.

Horner described Mark's post-race comments as "throwaway" and said he'd make the same decision again, but team sources told me that Mark was seething on Saturday and vowed that he would not yield to Vettel at Turn 1. There were going to be fireworks.

On his way to the starting grid, Mark told the BBC "I want to do the best for the guys on MY car," underlining he feels the garage is divided. Having won the race, Webber requested one of his own crew accept the constructors' trophy on the podium. That request was refused by Horner. "That's not up to Mark", he said, and bestowed the honour to Head of Aerodynamics Peter Prodromou.

"I'm sure we'll have some decent chats tomorrow," said Webber, when the team goes back over the events of the last few days at their nearby Milton Keynes base. "Honestly, I wouldn't have signed a contract had I thought this was the way going forward".
He believes that, should a similar situation arise at the Hockenheimring in a fortnight, as points leader he will receive any preferential parts. Webber now sits on 128 points - seven more than his team mate. He has three wins this season to Vettel's two.

The best thing about the British Grand Prix is we get to see Murray Walker walking around. The veteran commentator was at the first grand prix held at Silverstone in 1948. He retired from F1 in 2001, aged 77, but still shows up here every year as energetic and passionate as ever.

Murray is famous for getting things wrong...

Here are some of the most famous 'Murrayisms'. Can you correctly identify the missing words? I'll bring you the answers next week.

1. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus ............ rough?"
a) Sounding
b) Feeling
c) Driving
d) Looking

2. "I should imagine that the conditions in the cockpit are ............."
a) Cramped
b) Hot
c) Exciting
d) Unimaginable

3. "It's raining heavily and ................................."
a) The track is drying out
b) It's quite dusty off line
c) The visibility is poor
d) The track is getting wet

4. "And the Williams pit are getting ready for Hill, the tyre .............. are coming off."
a) Warmers
b) Coolers
c) Treads
d) Blankets

5. "We're now on the 73rd lap and the next one will be the ........."
a) Final lap
b) 74th
c) First lap
d) Next one

6. "Senna 1st, Prost 2nd and Berger 3rd. That makes up the top ......."
a) Three
b) Four
c) Five
d) Six

7. "He's obviously gone in for a wheel change. I say obviously because ..........."
a) His pit crew are out
b) His tyres are bald
c) I can't see it
d) His wheels are being changed

8. "And Mansell can see the car behind in his .........."
a) Mirrors
b) Slipstream
c) Earphone
d) Bodywork

9. "The beak of Ayrton Senna's ........... is pulling ahead."
a) McLaren
b) Ferrari
c) Benetton
d) Chicken

10. "And we've had five races so far this year: Brazil, Argentina, Imola, ............ and Monaco."
a) Barcelona
b) Schumacher
c) Russia
d) This one

Last night was a busy one in the paddock as there were no less than five media drinks dos on at the same time. Renault had their regular apero, the BRDC had brought out the BBQ, Virgin were having a pub night, and Red Bull were toasting their one-off tie-up with the Thai tourist board. They had Thai food, Thai beer, I even had a chat with the wife of the Thai ambassador to the UK. And there was a prize - a stay at Sri Panwa in Phuket.

Regular readers will remember Sri Panwa as my second home when I'm out in South East Asia. An amazing place where guests get entire villas to themselves, gorgeous panoramic views and infinity pools you can actually jump from your bed into. Here, I demonstrate with my buddy Mr Chris Zimmerman:



The other soiree last night was down at Force India. Robert Paterson, Whyte and Mackay's chief master blender was there teaching a few of us how whisky should be drunk. First up, how to hold the glass. Robert is a proper Glaswegian who's been whisky tasting since he was eight years old, and said in no uncertain terms that if I held the glass by anything other than the seat he would poke my eyes out.



What I didn't know was that you're meant to roll whisky over and under your tongue for a second for each year - so if it's 30 years old, that's a mouth-numbing 30 seconds.

He brought some very fine whiskys, but the finest without doubt was the tiny bottle - looked a bit like a urine sample - which Robert kept in his pocket. The Dalmore 62. This is the world's most expensive whisky, Robert explained, worth a staggering £102,000 a bottle, and there were only 12 bottles produced. It's derived from four casks of single malt dating from 1868, 1876, 1926 and 1939. To my disbelief, Robert poured a soupson into a glass and handed it to once of my colleagues. Git knocked it right back. What I would have done for a shot of that (probably worth eight grand), all I got was a snifter.

Robert has blended the Force India drivers very own whiskies. For Paul di Resta he says: "I have created a whisky that is a little shy at first on the nose but behind the shyness there is a full bodied explosion brought about by the highland malts I have used in this blend, giving it great strength and backbone. This whisky has plenty of raw Scottish talent but also displays a sureness and maturity beyond its years."

For Tonio Liuzzi: "I have created something which reflects his lively Italian personality and celebrates his first full season in the race seat. This blend is not one for sipping and savouring but is one for pure enjoyment and pleasure with the rest of the team. Needing single malts with a little extra vibrancy, I called upon a great selection from Islay and Jura which were intricately woven together to allow the peat smoke to harmonise. Patience and dedication was needed to bind and unite these malts together but the long awaited results are outstanding, proving that good things come to those who wait."

And for Adrian Sutil: "Adrian is clearly a strong willed and meticulous character who carefully plans his races to the last detail. However his skills as a concert pianist demonstrate another less well known side. That of the artist; creative, dramatic, passionate. Instantly I was drawn to his bold character and for this blend I have selected whiskies as old as 25 years from the four distilling regions of Scotland. Although this blend has a great complexity to it, a great harmony prevails with beautiful mellow flavours coming through to reward the palate."

Down in the Force India motorhome this morning, the Tonio and Adrian blends are almost untouched but Di Resta's is half gone. Good job he wasn't driving in FP3 today.

Jenson Button is a collector of VW Campers and he and Lewis arrived at Silverstone in a 60s example, courtesy of Vodafone. On the way they bought Magnums, camping magazines and chatted up the locals.

Speaking of camping, Jenson's mum Simone was staying at the Green Man Premier Inn in Silverstone when it burnt down earlier this week. Fortunately she wasn't in at the time and although the fire brigade gave her room a good soaking her passport was kept dry under a wadge of clothes in her suitcase. Jenson's hired her a motorhome next to his in the BRDC campsite, and apparently she's loving it.

Those of us British folk were well aware of the changes made to Silverstone, having been bombarded with info since the start of the year courtesy of the BRDC. But the press releases didn't reach everyone, it seems...

GP2/GP3 technical chief Didier Perrin showed up at the circuit on Thursday, looked at the revised track map, and shouted 'what the f***k???' when he realized he'd completely forgotten about Silverstone's new layout and had accidently organized the GP3 race for being two laps longer than the time would allow.

This is the man who once drove to Spa on the weekend of the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. This is also the man who sent an official memo to teams telling them that if they think the GP3 engine note is disappointingly quiet, they can fit vuvuzelas to the exhaust. He's a bit of a joker, is Didier.

But the biggest clunker came courtesy of Jaime 'to Hell' Alguersuari who was practising in the Red Bull simulator last week, forgot about the new change of direction at Abbey and did a Mark Webber - hitting the barriers and going airborne.

For the two leading drivers in Formula One and eight of the 12 teams, the British Grand Prix is their home race. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have been on a ten day media junket, which started with them paint balling against London's Fleet Street press - talk about the hunters and the hunted - and came to a head when an 11 year-old child from the Great Ormond Street Hospital asked the pair "Have you had a bet between yourselves as to which of of you will be world champion?" No, they hadn't and maybe they should, they agreed. The pair talked about conceding the keys to their favourite road cars, before young Carl Hillis piped up again: "Why don't you just flush the loser's head down the toilet?"

So far, the only bruises the McLaren duo show are down to that paint balling trip - five days on Lewis still winces when he sits down - but if they put one over the other this weekend in front of their adoring crowd, the tension is likely to build a la Red Bull Racing. Playground spats like head flushing are not unknown, even in this most sophisticated of sports.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are both equally fancied for victory at Silverstone. Vettel took a peerless win here in 2009. The RB6 is custom made for the former RAF base's flat-out curves. It loves fast turns so much it wants to cover them in baby oil and rub up against them.

But the McLaren could well be similarly tuned this weekend, for it's getting a major aero upgrade that will include a 'blown exhaust' just like Red Bull's that will help suck it to the track.

Button has never been on the podium at Silverstone. "I've won the world championship, I've won in Monaco, and I'm desperate to get my hands on this trophy," he revealed at a press conference on Tuesday. "Lewis and I are both winners and we both want to win. We're going to fight it out."