A new week begins, and this one has a Grand Prix at the end of it! Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Fernando Alonso sees his chance to break F1’s two-horse race (The Guardian)
“The claims by the Mercedes team principal, Ross Brawn, that his team are still in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships appear a little far-fetched, but there is a feeling that Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso could yet sneak below the radar to pose a real challenge to Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.”
Comment of the day
I like Pete’s take on Jean Todt’s performance as FIA president so far:
I almost never read or hear about him. That’s a very good thing.
Pete
From the forum
Some people are already looking forward to next week’s race and asking if we might see a repeat of the Turkish Grand Prix.
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Piers Courage died at Zandvoort in the Dutch Grand Prix on this day 40 years.
His death was a hammer blow to the closely-knit privateer team run by Frank Williams. Courage had worked hard with the team to improve their uncompetitive De Tomaso chassis and was very popular both inside and outside the team.
He crashed at over 140mph, with enough force to tear his crash helmet from his head, and the car burst into flames.
Coming shortly after the death of Bruce McLaren, and not long before Jochen Rindt was killed at Monza, Courage’s death was one of several accidents that spurred the calls for improved safety in motor racing.
Oli
21st June 2010, 0:10
It’s also one year ago that mr vettel dominated the British gp at silverstone from pole. I was there! Awesome weekend. Shame i cant go again this year
James_mc
21st June 2010, 0:24
I think that Master Vettel would be more appropriate… ;-)
TommyB (@tommyb89)
21st June 2010, 0:25
Great comment from Pete and so true. It’s great that we don’t have to hear about him and all the controversy going on like what happened with Max.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
21st June 2010, 0:38
Yeah I think Pete summed it up very well, not hearing from Todt is a sign that all is well. Although Will Buxton pointed out the other day that Todt would have been more vocal if it wasn’t for the increased influence of FOTA
macahan (@macahan)
21st June 2010, 1:08
Absolutely. Only time we should hear is when they have a good announcement to bring out such as next year tire mfg. Step in when there is a problem on a monumental level and solve it and then later announce the solution. Not come running with comments about teams, drivers and the like.
wasiF1
21st June 2010, 2:17
Pete is right.Even I haven’t seen him in any GP this season. Have he attended any F1 race this season?
sato113 (@sato113)
21st June 2010, 3:18
monaco i saw him on the world feed.
wasiF1
21st June 2010, 10:19
I missed as I had power cut back then
Scribe (@scribe)
21st June 2010, 0:28
It was the MotoGP at Silverstone this weekend, won’t spoil the result, it’s all on the Iplayer, if you do watch it though, disapointingly empty, was Donnington this bad, spose Silverstone really is 4 wheel territory the grandstands are a wasteland.
Can’t belive MotoGP will be happy it was like Turkey.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
21st June 2010, 0:36
Ah man, my lament of Silverstone took me so long that Scribe got there before me. As I say below, I wasn’t impressed either.
(although to be fair it’s important to remember how big Silverstone’s capacity is, it would have been quite a feat to sell out all the grandstands. Besides, there were only two grandstands at Donington, so perhaps motorbike fans are more accustomed to general admission)
sato113 (@sato113)
21st June 2010, 0:53
i watched it on tv and thought it was so boring, yet the commentators agreed it was an ‘amazing’ race…
the 125cc was epic though!!!
Dane
21st June 2010, 1:08
I thought it was a great race, wasnt boring at all
sato113 (@sato113)
21st June 2010, 1:16
well ok maybe ‘so boring’ was a bit to far. but apart from the battle for 3rd it wasn;t anything speecial IMO.
George (@george)
21st June 2010, 12:55
It was a good race, the only reason it was boring is that Rossi wasn’t around to keep Lorenzo on a leash.
PJA
21st June 2010, 13:54
I noticed that the stands weren’t full as well. I remember the commentators saying the attendance was 70,000 does anyone know what it was for previous years when it was at Donnington.
I wonder if the absence of Rossi put anyone off going to the race.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
21st June 2010, 0:32
Did anyone watch the Moto GP at the new Silverstone yesterday? Personally I wasn’t too impressed. The circuit seems way too long and wide for bikes. It also looks far more ugly than usual with the new tarmac run offs replacing grass, ruining the circuits green look, and the huge building site really dominates the new section. Compared to Donington it seemed a bit characterless.
sato113 (@sato113)
21st June 2010, 0:54
yeah but did you see the great 125cc race?
yeah i think it looks awful. loads of concrete. they put a strip of grass running along the track about 1m wide and then its just pure tarmac… urgh!
Scribe (@scribe)
21st June 2010, 1:41
125cc is always a bit hectic, it’s often got more action compared to MotoGP just because the riders don’t have quite the nouse in many cases, I thought we got three damn good races but a dissapointing turnout.
Scribe (@scribe)
21st June 2010, 1:43
But good point Ned, makes you think about how amazing these occasionals sell out crowds for F1 are.
Hopefully Silverstone will look a little better next year when the buildings done, if not well, tis an airstrip after all thats always been it’s character, wouldn’t want them adding trees or something, ruin the site lines.
MattB
21st June 2010, 19:46
Too long for bikes? I personally quite enjoy the Isle of Man TT race – ok a different format – but the circuit is 37 and three quarters of a mile!
Travis (@)
21st June 2010, 1:06
Haha, hear hear Pete. So true.
matt90 (@matt90)
21st June 2010, 1:12
Just started watching the canada highlights on iplayer. Only just noticed the great moment at the beginning, as the cars are lined up and Legard tells us the positions of Hamilton and Vettel (left/right)- but has to pause half way through as he confuses himself about whether he’s stating their actual starting position, or their position from the cameras perspective. What an idiot.
matt90 (@matt90)
21st June 2010, 1:36
Actually, even more annoying than Legard is the seven day limit seemnigly being reached while I was half way through watching the race. Turns out that iplayer removes all content immediately instead of allowing viewers to finish watching their programme.
sato113 (@sato113)
21st June 2010, 1:43
lol, watch the short highlights from around 8:45 and listen to how many times legard interupts Brunle about Shumy’s defence on Massa. ridiculous.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8737993.stm
sato113 (@sato113)
21st June 2010, 1:22
brilliant Martin Brundle on a motogp bike around Silverstone!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/8750502.stm
Calum
21st June 2010, 7:41
I think it is unfair to slam Silverstone because of the building works spoiling the look of the track, it will be an improvement once it is completed. I think any aesthetic judgements on the new should wait until next year when the pitlane is finished, along with any other construction work.
Where it really matters is on the track, and Steve Rider seemed impressed with the new loop section, the hairpin saw quite a few overtakes. Even if the new section was primarily designed for motorbikes it is still looking promising for the F1 GP. I can’t wait!
DC
21st June 2010, 7:42
Other former driver news: JJ Lehto was in a fatal boat crash over the weekend. He survived, but a passenger died.
Lehto is a sometime commentator for the Finnish F1 broadcasts.
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/06/former_formula_one_driver_in_boat_accident_1774561.html
Tomás
21st June 2010, 16:06
Keith, you should know that the Moto GP was in Silversotne few days ago, and therefore testing the new circuit that was changed months ago. Unfortunately, although the revised layout has received applause from all the pilots detected an unexpected problem: excessive undulations. Many people came down the bikes after the free practice on Friday quite angry – including Casey Stoner, which he said was almost impossible to guide the Ducati in certain stretches of asphalt, such is the amount of curl.
It’s a shame that the organization of the circuit did not attempt to detail so trivial when finished the track. Now, there is no time to promote resurfacing the entire stretch of the arena, but if I were one of those responsible, jot down all the MotoGP riders have to say and attack the most critical points. After all, when the F1 get there, the negative ads will gain far greater proportions.
Bye
bosyber
21st June 2010, 16:24
Well, Stoner himself did admit his Ducati was worse then the competition with the bumps. And he also mentioned that a bike is more sensitive to bumps in corners than a car is. Even if an F1 car is very sensitive, the driver is not in danger of being thrown off it.
BasCB (@bascb)
21st June 2010, 18:28
I saw an interview with the 3 guys on the podium and one of them (i think the guy in 2nd) said the bumps are there, but they just had to take that into account and maybe somebody has to improve their bikes for next run.
Adrian
21st June 2010, 16:38
Bumps are good, they mean there’s a greater chance of a mistake (read that as it’s more difficult for the drivers) so should make for a slightly more entertaining race…
sportsman (@sportsman)
21st June 2010, 17:08
Casey Stoner also said that the problem was only on the old part of the track.
The new part was no problem at all.
BasCB (@bascb)
21st June 2010, 19:15
Formula1.com put up the race edit. Nice moves, although it failed to capture all the on track action! Wonder how that was possible :-D
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
21st June 2010, 22:10
Awful, awful music. Did they get a sulking adolescent to pick it?