I had the chance to fix a couple of problems on the site yesterday. Coming up on the site today we’ll have a look at tyre wars in F1 and, time permitting, the beginning of a new discussion series to run between now and the next race.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Tony goes to China (Joe Saward)
I missed this article at first, it’s a couple of days old. Hopefully the presence of Tony George in Shanghai suggests and American Grand Prix is on the cards.
Schumacher will win again! Ecclestone says German legend just needs more time (Daily Mail)
“Anybody who criticises Michael is wrong. He deserves better. I would say don’t underestimate Michael. Give him time to adapt to the new car and the new tyres. At the moment he’s something of a newbie who has to get accustomed to the trade again.”
Michael Schumacher’s comeback is already running on empty (The Guardian)
“At least Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods justified their comebacks by contending for the biggest prizes. Armstrong finished on the podium in last year’s Tour de France, while Woods tied for fourth place in the Masters earlier this month. The way things look, it would be no surprise to see Schumacher bowing out with as much dignity as he can salvage before the Formula One season is very much older.”
Comment of the day
It’s always exciting to hear from someone who was at one of the great F1 races. Kowalsky saw Ayrton Senna win his first Grand Prix at Estoril 25 years ago yesterday:
I spent the hole race at the end of the main straight, and i saw prost’s mistake in front of me. That made me very happy. I wasn’t a senna fan yet, but i was a prost hater already. I also remember at the chequered flag, watching mansell flat out, almost crashing, and thinking, jesus, mansell still around, he must have made a hell of a race. I was in a state, similar to what they call, fog of war.
Kowalsky
If you were at a famous race, do get in touch by emailling me, using Twitter or leaving a comment below.
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Happy birthday!
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On this day in F1
Four years ago today Michael Schumacher broke Ayrton Senna’s record for setting the most pole positions in Formula 1. Schumacher recorded his 66th in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix.
He had matched Senna’s record with his 65th pole position at Bahrain earlier that season. But while Senna achieved his 65 pole positions in 162 appearances, it took Schumacher 236 attempts to secure as many.
Schumacher’s record currently stands at 68 pole positions from 254 F1 race appearances.
f1yankee
22nd April 2010, 0:11
tony george no longer has anything to do with indy motor speedway, so i’m guessing he wants to produce a usgp elsewhere. don’t tell me he wants to field a team!
DC
22nd April 2010, 13:32
It’s a bit strange that he was there, with some sponsors no less. I can’t imagine that he personally got rights to the USGP name. One of the Hulman entities must have it.
John H
22nd April 2010, 0:47
I think some of the press are being a little childish, but I suppose if you are the most successful driver in the history of F1 I guess the bar is pretty high. Problem is, he’s not even come close to it.
I really do believe he might just be too old to learn to drive again without TC. That would explain his problem getting ‘traction out of corners’ and also his lack of pace in the wet. I’m sorry Schumi fans, but the signs are not good.
George
22nd April 2010, 7:20
That’s true, but remember Massa had trouble with no TC at the beginning of the ’07 season, he managed to get over it.
Oli
22nd April 2010, 8:15
TC was banned at the start of 2008 but I see what you mean
John H
22nd April 2010, 8:40
Yeah, good point. Let’s wait until we get to Monaco, as we know he’s always been very handy there of course and it’s a place where the driver can make such a difference.
Skett
22nd April 2010, 16:12
I hadn’t even thought about it tbh, but looking back he always did best in the years when tc was around. In fact one thing I remember being said was the reason he was so great was because of how well he used all the electronic aids
Tom
22nd April 2010, 21:46
I wonder if he’s not so good with a full load of fuel as well. He was always the master of quick laps around fuel-stop time. In 1992 and 93, before refuelling, he wasn’t a regular winner. OK he was young and clearly promising, but his team-mate Brundle matched him in quite a few races.
Steve K
22nd April 2010, 1:29
Tony George is a idealist who almost ruined Indycar. He set it back 15 years and in doing so NASCAR passed Indycar as the premiere form of motorsport in the US. Whatever Tony is up to with Bernie will fail. May he rot in motorsports hell one day. It’s been only about a month but thank The motorsports gods fir bringing us Randy Bernard.
SeattleChris
22nd April 2010, 4:23
What is the Guardian? Is it something similar to the Star in the US where they print rubbish lies in order for lame-bodies to get their rocks off since their own lives suck?
I think he’s doing amazing all things considered. He’s beating Rubens and quite a few other good drivers. To come back after a 3 year absence, each year the cars changing and developing slowly, and be in the top ten after 4 GP’s is simply astonishing. His dignity is well in tact; their’s is not.
As far as the reference to Tiger and Armstrong, the sports they play didn’t change at all! Nothing changed in the technology or the courses. Further, Tiger was out for a few months/few ugly loose women. It wasn’t even noteworthy really. Oh, big shock that a billionaire golfer let his ego get the better of him and he have a few affairs. Oh, wait, this is pretty much the norm. Former President Clinton is practically the face of America for crying out loud! UGHHHH!
George
22nd April 2010, 7:26
The Guardian is actually quite highbrow, the British press is infested with terrible motorsports writers though.
I have fingers and toes crossed that whatever upgrades Mercedes bring to Barcelona will make the car more suitable for Schumi.
Rob R.
22nd April 2010, 10:05
The Guardian is not high brow. It is just another blog now, just like most other newspapers that are slowly going out of business and have turned to the internet to extend their lifespan. The only thing that distinguishes them from the 5,000,000 other hysterical left wing blogs is
“Yeeees, we’re a broadsheet newspaper don’t you know? *smokes pipe*”
If they were “high brow” they’d be able to
intellectually refute dissenting comments on their articles instead of just shamelessly deleting them.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 8:33
On the contrary, on the increasingly rare occasions I buy a newspaper these days it’s usually The Guardian or The Times. And if I was choosing solely on their F1 coverage, I’d go for The Guardian.
Richard Williams is an excellent writer and I strongly recommend his books “Enzo Ferrari” and “The Last Road Race”. He definitely knows his stuff.
DC
22nd April 2010, 13:30
Heh. Back during the invasion of Iraq, I kept coming across hysterical, frothing-at-the-mouth articles from something called The Guardian. I thought it was a spoof anti-American project of some sort until an English friend convinced me it was an actual newspaper.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 14:06
I suppose a lot of people in the world would look at that as a sole voice of reason fighting against the unstoppable urges to bring “western democracy and civilization” to Iraq under the flag of getting rid of their dangerous weapons they turned out not to have.
Rob R.
22nd April 2010, 14:21
Voice of reason?
Leftists spend all day whining about how religion is stupid and holds people back. And then they complain when someone tries to bring secular democracy to a Middle East country. It’s utterly ridiculous. There’s no logic there.
Paper Tiger
22nd April 2010, 18:11
I don´t think the ´leftists´ are complaining about the installation of secular democracy. I think they´re opposed to the invasion built on lies, the $190,000,000,000 cost, 100,000 plus civilian deaths, the fact that 5,000,000 Iraqi children have been made orphans, the 20% rise in malnutrition rates, the fact that 60 to 70% of children are suffering psychological problems, the fact that around 70% of Iraqis do not have access to clean drinking water, suicide bombings, acts of genocide, torture and murder, political repression, lucrative rebuilding and defense contracts to American companies, a 50% decrease in the number of doctors since 2003, the use of white phosphorus and prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib.
I could go on, but this is a blog about Formula 1. Yes, the Guardian is an unashamedly left wing paper, but the reason that it seems to DC to be “hysterical, frothing-at-the-mouth” is because the US is so much more right wing than the rest of the developed world. Everything seems left wing if you get all your information from Glenn Beck.
Sorry, Keith. Rant over, but when people write inane, badly thought out comments like this, I feel obliged to respond.
macahan
22nd April 2010, 5:01
Just for grins I did a calculation to see how the old point system compares with the new point systems in the current standings as of right now. Has really nothing to do with this round up but I was curious and thought about it for a while so did it up tonight and figured I would share.
Rosberg, Alonso and Lewis would be shared 2nd with 20 points instead 2nd and last two shared 3rd .
Kubica would be ahead of Massa with 1 point (17 vs 16) instead of behind by 1 point (41 vs 40).
Sutil would be a head of Schumacher with 1 point instead both having 10 points.
Liuzzi and Petrov would have both 2 points instead of 8 and 6.
Barrichello would been the last point scorer with 1 point and Alguersauri and Hulkenberg would be pointless.
But 23 60
Ros 20 50
Alo 20 49
Ham 20 49
Vet 18 45
Mas 16 41
Kub 17 40
Web 10 28
Sch 3 10
Sut 4 10
Liu 2 8
Pet 2 6
Bar 1 5
Alg 0 2
Hul 0 1
(hope the “table” shows up right once I submit comment)
So a difference of 10 points today is about the difference of 3 in the past. A few minor changes in positions across the line but very few unless you count the ones that would share same point tally no changes would be on the top 5.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 8:30
Which makes sense given the new points system is basically the old one multiplied by 2.5.
Patrickl
22nd April 2010, 9:30
GPUpdate made the same comparison a few days ago:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/232992/the-2010-points-system-what-if/
Indeed practically nothing changed. Besides multiplying everything by 2.5 and People like Alguersuari and Hulkenberg scoring points.
Mike
22nd April 2010, 5:36
Lance is a legend, someone we can all look to for the road to achievement… but tiger? no offence to fans of the sport but as I understand it the best Aussie golfer is a fat guy…. congrats tiger you beat the fat guy……
This is actually more about indignation of having the highest paid Aussie sportsman a fat guy…. I’m sure saying that though he is very nice and very worthy of his place…
Schumacher is not doing to badly, I wouldn’t expect any of the rookies to do any better, and Rosberg clearly has the car working for him.
Deurmat
22nd April 2010, 8:34
Lance is a cheater.
John H
22nd April 2010, 8:43
I’m sure there are enough people that play golf in the world, that when you are that far better than the rest of the field you are something special… Aussie fat guys aside.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 10:55
Good for all the fat guys in the world to know, they can get to the top in a sport where movement through the course is part of it (thereby exluding “sports” like darting, snooker or poker).
Calum
22nd April 2010, 7:36
I’m still saying Schumacher for Hungarian GP win this year.
IDR
22nd April 2010, 7:41
“…and Rosberg clearly has the car working for him.”
You surely know something that the rest of us don’t. Would be great if you share it with us, poor mortals.
Mike
22nd April 2010, 8:40
Stomacher was struggling last race, Particularly not being able to put the power down, I just meant that either Rosberg is handling it better, or His car is set up better for him.
John H
22nd April 2010, 8:44
Well, he’s set it up better then. $:)
PJA
22nd April 2010, 9:32
Schumacher’s comeback has more in common with Armstrong’s than it does Wood’s.
Both Schumacher and Armstrong came back after a few years of retirement whereas Woods was out for something like five months because of a scandal about his private life.
Also Armstrong may have finished on the podium on the Tour de France but that was not his first race back, so you can’t really compare that with how Schumacher has done so far.
If Schumacher is still behind Rosberg in the second half of the season that will be the time to question if he should have come back for me.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 11:00
Yes, i think your right there. If Schumacher can get at least on the podium some times this year, he maches Armstrong.
The Tour de France is the highlight of the whole cycling season, and Armstrong did an enormous build up effort to come back and win the Tour.
He did not win it so it was a failure, even thoug not losing face with coming home 3rd.
Another similarity is, that Armstrong came back amid rumours of his taking some kind of Doping for his earlier succes, tarnishing his greatness. Compare that with Monaco 2006 and Last round crashes, TC on his Benneton etc.
MPJ1994
22nd April 2010, 9:33
I dont think its fair to compare Schumacher to Armstrong at this stage. When Lance compeated in the Tour de France last year, it wasnt his first race back, with his first being the Tour Down Under in January, a full 6 months BEFORE the Tour de France, giving him several events plus countless training sessions to get back to his best.
Michaels four races into his comeback and its unreasonable to expect him to instantly be at his best with the limited amount of time hes spent in the car. If you consider this limited time, hes still doing a respectable job.
If come the British or German Grand Prixs, Schumacher is still not up to speed, then I think it is right to question if his comeback is successful and to then compare him to his team mate and rivals, but not before.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 10:19
Mosley’s slagging people off left, right and centre again. This just makes me glad he’s not in charge any more:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83093
PJA
22nd April 2010, 10:48
My copy of F1 Racing arrived in the post the other day and although I haven’t read it yet when I glanced through the Mosley article it seemed like the sort of thing which will annoy me when I read it fully.
. The bits I did read he was basically saying the public perception of him is entirely wrong. Such as claiming he doesn’t have any problems with Ron Dennis or Flavio Briatore
It reminded me first and foremost of interviews with any half decent politician, where if you listen to them without any knowledge of the situation they will convince you they are completely right and acting in your best interests whereas everyone else is wrong and only looking out for themselves.
steph
22nd April 2010, 10:58
I read the entire interview and he slagged off online blogs, said if fans really understood the issues then they would have backed him, Bernie should make greater use of the net (which I actually agree with), that if Ron had have came to the FIA and not lied then it wouldn’t have been such a big issue (I would agree with that but I can’t help but think Mosley would have been harsh either way) and that just banning them would more than likely have destroyed Mclaren. He had a jab at Ari too saying he wouldn’t be up to it.
Basically Autosport have hit the tip of the iceberg there in my opinion. He did say Bernie and Ron should have knighthoods though. So not all bad ;)
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 11:07
I just read it as well. As ever he points out some things and then turns them somewhere to prove his point.
A very dangerous way of arguing. I am glad he is not the FIA president any more.
But where is the book full of dirty details he promised a lot of people would fear? Is there any book, or just hollow threats.
PJA
22nd April 2010, 11:51
I read the question about whether he thought Ron Dennis should get a knighthood, but considering he was trying to make out he had no problem with Dennis, in an earlier reply he had to say yes, and of course Mosley is always supposed to have been close with Bernie Ecclestone so saying he should get a knighthood as well isn’t a great surprise.
In relation to the book full of dirty secrets Mosley promised what happened to the book Nigel Stepney tried to get published about spygate? I wouldn’t be surprised if there is still quite a few things to be made public about that affair.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 14:01
Maybe they can just write their books together :-O and make up some juicy details on somebody in the run.
That was a book worth looking forward to as well. How long was Stepney banned from F1? Maybe he is still getting all inside information in there.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 11:02
Is there any follow up on the rumours heard about a month ago, that Todt wants to make Mosley the F1 Comissioner?
PJA
22nd April 2010, 11:43
Although some people speculated before Todt was elected that Mosley would find a way back as the F1 commissioner, I thought when that rumour resurfaced recently it was an April Fool.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 12:50
Yeah Pitpass ran it as an April Fool:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40359
I don’t recall that final paragraph being there the first time I read it, perhaps they bolted it one afterwards.
Mike
22nd April 2010, 14:12
If you hadn’t said it I wouldn’t bet on it, but I think it might have been a bolt on job as well…. maybe people took it seriously…
(not that I did)
TMFOX
22nd April 2010, 10:27
I never really liked Schumacher and it would be easy to say that I’m glad that he’s not doing that well. But under the circumstances I think he’s made a really brave move to come back after a few years out of the loop. To someone like Schumacher who left towards the end of the high aero/grooved tyre era this is like joining a sport that he’s never driven in before.
Formula 1 isn’t as black and white as long distance cycling or golf. I’m pretty sure Armstrong and Woods have all the time in the world to hone their talents when not competing. Especially in sports where the rules don’t change that much (if not at all).
Schumacher cannot readily take his Mercedes W01 out for a spin between races to make sure that he’s up to scratch when it comes to race day. The majority of the drivers he’s competing against haven’t had the break from the sport that he’s had.
Schumacher already knows how to walk, he’s been doing that for the last four races. He needs to learn how to run again.
F1silverarrows
22nd April 2010, 10:42
I don’t have a famous race to name like Kowalsky, but i do have a repeat occurrence thats come up….
So far I’ve been 2 grand prix’s, Silverstone 05 and Spa 09 both of these drivers won the race and left the next season either from the start or from the middle of the next season. I’m going to silverstone again this year so whoever does win it you know who will be leaving sooner or later.
I apologize in advance if it’s your driver who wins silverstone this year……
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 12:51
I was at Silverstone in 2005, my brother and I were sat at Luffield. I got sunburned on race day :-(
F1silverarrows
22nd April 2010, 16:54
yer i was on the pit straight, couldn’t move my head for days afterwards. bad really bad lol.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 12:00
I’m making a few settings changes on the site at the moment, so you may see a few things appear and re-appear.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 14:19
A nice report of the quest to get back to the UK by Will Buxton here:
http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/getting-home/
So after getting everybody hooked with great twitter input by the whole team Fernandes got something together.
I am now curious how the Virgin Racing team got home.
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 14:40
I just read on Pitpass, that they are still in China – Virgin have very little extra capacity to get all stranded people home!
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40580
BasCB
22nd April 2010, 14:32
Anybody planning to go cycling?
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40582
I would love a first hand report, but it is quit a bit out of reach on bicycle from here.
Joe
22nd April 2010, 14:40
I was at the 2005 United States Grand Prix. You know, the one made famous by Michelin’s utter failure to make a useful tire? Actually, contrary to what you had stated in a previous article, the Michelin teams were given options, just not ones that unfairly penalized the Bridgestone teams (ex. they were told they could go through the pit lane on each lap with a black flag thrown if they didn’t). In the end, the 3 points left over wouldn’t have affected the overall standings to a significant degree, but it could have helped some of the drivers to tie or jump others in the standings.
Other than the complete epic failure of an F1 race, the most memorable event at that GP was when someone wrote in a huge sand trap (there is a golf course in the infield) “**** U F1”. I still have the picture, it was fantastic and hilarious. The workers that were “protecting” the golf course even let it stay for the entire day.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd April 2010, 15:02
I don’t want to pick a fight because you were there and if it’d been my money wasted I’d’ve been furious.
But when I said options, I meant realistic ones, not thinly-disguised means of humiliating Michelin even more.
Joe
22nd April 2010, 18:41
I was quite mad over the whole deal, but I don’t think having to go through the pitlane would have been NEARLY as bad as refusing to run the race. I know everyone that I talked to that was at the race (~50 people or so) felt pretty much the same way. The teams have an obligation to the fans to put on a show if possible, because lets face it, the primary job at the top level of motorsports is to entertain, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much money floating around. Regardless though, that’s just comes down to a difference in opinion.
For what it is worth, I was also at the 2006 USGP and was, as far as I can tell, the only one to actually be paying attention when Heidfeld had his rather nasty accident in the 1st turn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYJBBJRz0K4&feature=related
I had an absolutely perfect view of the whole thing.
He might have been able to walk away from it, but it is still the nasties accident I have ever seen with my own two eyes (i.e. not on a tv/comp).
Chaz
24th April 2010, 7:44
On or off the track, Michael Schumacher still has the ability to command headlines. The media should ease off and give him breathing space. And so what if he fails, he still has his records…