Keep an eye out for the fifth instalment of the Jean Todt Approval Rating coming up later today on F1 Fanatic. Here’s your Friday round-up:
Links
F1 diary: Monaco Grand Prix (Daily Telegraph)
“There are many who doubt Mark Webber’s credentials as a leading F1 driver, despite the huge body of evidence in his favour, but today he provides one of his most persuasive arguments yet. There is scope for all manner of things to go wrong, amid a glut of safety car interruptions, but he annihilates the opposition without making an error worth the name. For the first time since early 1981, an Australian leads the F1 world championship.”
Behind the scenes at the Monaco Grand Prix (BBC)
“I’m reliably informed Michael was on the radio on the slowing down lap telling the team how Alonso was asleep, a phrase team principal Ross Brawn repeated later in our interview at the end of the BBC One show.”
Vettel to get new chassis for Turkey (Autosport)
Christian Horner: “Sebastian Vettel experienced some handling peculiarities with his current chassis during the Monaco GP. Upon further investigation a small defect was found on his chassis, which will be replaced for the next race in Turkey.”
Comment of the day
Should Vijay Mallya give Karun Chandhok a chance at Force India? Robert McKay makes a case for it:
It’s funny that Mallya can tell us that Sutil’s talents were hidden by a duff Spyker and that he only really was truly able to "show his qualities" once the machinery got better.
Might there not at least be the same possibility with Chandhok?
I mean, come on, it’s a bit double standards, regardless of your opinions on Sutil and/or Chandhok.
Happy birthday!
Happy bithday to GV27 and Kanyima!
On this day in F1
Juan-Manuel Fangio scored his first F1 victory on this day 60 years ago. It was a win that owed much to both his razor-sharp racing intellect and considerable strength.
Fangio led the opening lap from Giuseppe Farina but behind them chaos erupted at Tabac. Several cars collided as a wave hit the harbour hard enough to soak part of the track.
When Fangio came around on his second lap he noticed many of the spectators were looking away from him, and deduced there must be trouble ahead. He backed off and stopped before the pile-up, while Farina lost control on the wet track and crashed.
Fangio escaped the carnage by reaching out of his car and pushing one of the wrecks out of his way. By the time any of the other runners had done the same, he was too far gone for them to catch him.
Here’s a little clip of the chaos:
Icthyes
21st May 2010, 0:05
Sometimes I wonder if the solution to making overtaking in F1 easier wouldn’t be to just make the cars narrow again!
Patrickl
21st May 2010, 0:20
Are the teams going to give drivers a new chassis everytime they have a bad weekend? First Schumacher, then Senna (wanted one) and now Vettel.
BTW I noticed from the race reports that at McLaren they swap the chassis’ between the drivers almost every race. Is that to make sure that things are equal or to make sure that nothing is broken?
Macca
21st May 2010, 2:57
I think Senna is intitled to want a new chassis.
BasCB
21st May 2010, 7:06
From what i understand his car must have been in a pretty bad condition, he improved over 2 seconds between Monaco FP2 and FP3 if i remember correctly.
Probalby Chandhok needs a new chassis now as well, after Trulli landing on it.
BasCB
21st May 2010, 7:04
I think it is to make sure nothing is broken (althoug surely at the same time taking care to convince everybody there is no favourism, viz Vettel over Webber or Schumi over Rosberg).
I understand they inspect the chassis in between.
Icthyes
21st May 2010, 0:32
By the way, interesting article on the GP Update box you have on the side their Keith, about Renault supplying Williams and Lotus next year. I was surprised Williams didn’t go with Renault this year, and put it down to costs, but the Lotus rumour comes pretty much out of the blue to me. They’re already concentrating on next year, so maybe we could see a big jump for them in 2011?
Macca
21st May 2010, 3:01
If this is true then that whould mean Red Bull whould have Merc engines because of the 3 team supplier rule. Supplying both Lotus and Williams will mean there are 4 teams.
Renualt – Red Bull – Williams – Lotus
macahan
21st May 2010, 3:50
Or maybe Renault racing team will be gone. But then Cosworth is already providing to 4 teams this year and Renault only 2.
13 teams next year, 4 engine manufacturers. One team must be allowed to supply 4 teams. Maybe Force India loses their Mercedes engine? Going Renault or Cosworth.
US_Peter
21st May 2010, 7:14
…and Cosworth would have been providing engines to 5 teams had USF1 made it to the grid.
Icthyes
21st May 2010, 4:15
I thought 4 teams was the maximum? Or are you talking about future rule changes to come into effect?
Macca
21st May 2010, 6:12
No 3 is the maximum. Cosworth is the exeption because they are supplying to the new teams.
Ben
21st May 2010, 8:00
I don’t think that is actually a rule. I’ve heard all sorts of things about engine supply, but none of them actually agree. I’ve heard the 4 teams limit a few times before, no limit (and the reason RB didn’t get it was because Macca and Merc were afraid it was too much of an advantage), and now 3 team limit.
I never thought there was any sort of limit, especially as on the weekend I heard another team being talked about linked with Mercedes with a similar arrangement to FI where the entire drive-train and hydraulics are provided. And it wasn’t one of the current Merc teams.
Jim N
21st May 2010, 10:02
Ben the rule is 13.3 “A major car manufacturer may not directly or indirectly supply engines for more than three teams of two cars each without the consent of the FIA. For the purposes of this Article 13.3, a major car manufacturer is a company whose shares are quoted on a recognised stock exchange or the subsidiary of such a company.”
Cosworth are not a major car manufacturer and so can supply any number of teams. As could say Ilmor or anybody like that.
Ben
21st May 2010, 10:06
ah well there you go. Thanks for the clarification. Like I said it was just because i’d heard a few different things about engine supply that I figured there wasn’t actually a hard and fast rule.
And Ilmor were bought out by Mercedes (Mercedes High Performance Engines) in 2005-ish, so they would be limited.
Jim N
21st May 2010, 10:17
Ilmor are still going independantly, they only sold out the F1 arm to Merceedes, and that’s long enough ago now that they could supply f1 again…. if someone paid them! http://www.ilmor.co.uk/
BasCB
21st May 2010, 7:10
Actually they have this for 2 days running now. It does not say they will supply those teams, only that they are willing to.
The teams possibly interested are based on rumour/guessing, maybe talks being held, nothing defenitive.
If Cosworth proves it has some potential, it might be the better choise for Williams. They would be able to get their KERS unit hooked up to it in close cooperation, which might be a problem with Renault.
It seems a clever marketing message from Renault: we had the whole podium at Monaco, so come and get some engines here, 0% down payment!
Ben
21st May 2010, 1:49
I bet Todt’s rating will cop a hiding in the next poll due to the Monaco thing, which is pretty unfair I reckon. Not really his fault, and the FIA are getting straight on it to fix it. But his rating will probably go down because of it anyway…..
macahan
21st May 2010, 3:51
could be worse if he hadn’t acknowledge the problem and promised with a fix.
BasCB
21st May 2010, 7:22
Actually he handled the situation pretty well. Getting on the phone (speculation) with Brawn and possibly Ferrari as well to cool down the debate, then agree with Mercedes on the follow up, saving face for Mercedes and showing the FIA is learning from mistakes.
Ben
21st May 2010, 8:02
exactly. But people may link ‘controversy’ and ‘FIA’ and downmark Todt, without looking at the actual situation.
mvi
21st May 2010, 8:26
My opinion of Todt has gone up as the handling of this case has been done with respect for all people concerned as well as some transparency.
Fer no.65
21st May 2010, 2:14
Fangio >> the rest.
Macca
21st May 2010, 3:02
I love the videos in On this day in F1 Keith. The last to have been great, keep them coming.
Michael Griffin
21st May 2010, 3:07
That piece from the F1 Diary says it all about Mark Webber. After Australia, taking out Lewis, some started to write him off, saying he would play second fiddle to Vettel.
Then he beats him to death in Spain and Monaco, with Monaco the more startling performance for me. He might have been the only driver in the 78 laps not to make a single error. He even coped with four restarts, in Monaco of all places.
I watched Webber’s pole lap on the BBCF1 site again yesterday, about 20 times, because it is that epic to watch.
Red Bull changing Vettel’s chassis after a “defect”. My friends, a cynical bunch, all said yes, there was a defect, its called Mark Webber, because he battered the favourite in the team.
Bit contradictory of Mallya to say how Sutil never showed how good he was because he was in a dud car, then subsequently slaps down Karun Chandhok, who is in a dud car.
Maybe Chandhok joining Force India in 2011 as secondary to Sutil would be the perfect PR opportunity for the Indian GP? Well, not if Mallya still has his head up his…
Ned Flanders
21st May 2010, 5:14
Chandok ain’t a good enough driver. Sorry. Yes, he’s a lovely guy, and yes he’s doing a decent job at Hispania, but no he doesn’t deserve a Force India drive. F1 should be a place for the 24 best drivers in the world… and let’s be honest, Chandok is not one of them
f1yankee
21st May 2010, 4:22
that was gasoline pouring out of the cars, right?
HounslowBusGarage
21st May 2010, 5:14
“When Fangio came around on his second lap he noticed many of the spectators were looking away from him, and deduced there must be trouble ahead.”
And there were no flag marshalls, right?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
21st May 2010, 9:14
Yes, but not as well-prepared as the ones they have today!
Macca
21st May 2010, 6:17
Oh yeah, you might be right, I thought that was water from the wave that hit.
James_mc
21st May 2010, 8:50
I presumed it was water personally.
Stealthman
21st May 2010, 10:41
“For the first time since early 1981, an Australian leads the F1 world championship.”
That would have been correct, had it been said at Germany last year… :P
Ned Flanders
21st May 2010, 10:57
Er… Webber never led the championship after Germany last year. Button led it from start to finish. Or have I misinterpreted your comment?
matt90
21st May 2010, 11:11
I swear that other than the lack of colour, that clip is better quality than any of the blurry low contrast ones from the 70s or 80s.
Icthyes
21st May 2010, 13:13
I guess it was because colour pictures brought its own challenges to improve, whereas black-and-white had already been polished over the years.
Though I did have to watch the 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix in black and white – it was odd not seeing the familiar colours.
verstappen
21st May 2010, 12:16
i didn’t know abbout this wave-thing!
Would that still be possible?
* mental picture of Flavio making waves with his big boat *
verstappen
21st May 2010, 12:19
And I stand corrected: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/flavio-in-difficulties-again/
Bleu
21st May 2010, 12:34
AFAIK there’s three drivers alive from the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix: Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Andre Simon and Robert Manzon.
Bleu
21st May 2010, 12:36
Correction: Simon had entered but didn’t participate. Gonzalez and Manzon were in the race and involved in the pile-up.