Indian farmers threaten to “dismantle” F1 track

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: 300 farmers protest their loss of land to make way for the Buddh International Circuit.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

NOIDA farmers vow to dismantle F1 track (DNA)

“Over 300 farmers ?óÔé¼ÔÇØ whose lands were acquired for Jaypee’s Formula One race track ?óÔé¼ÔÇØ held a mahapanchayat [meeting of farmers] at Kanarsi village under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, about five kilometres from the track site, on Wednesday and threatened to ‘dismantle the racing track with force if necessary’ if their demands were not met.”

‘F1 will rev up Indian motorsport’ (IOL)

Vicky Chandhok: “It will project India as a technologically driven country, since F1 is the world’s most technology-driven sport. We already have a few drivers in the international arena and F1 has huge television audiences, so you can expect a lot of youngsters to take to the sport.”

Villeneuve: Raikkonen title not deserved (Autosport)

“If Kimi won the championship, he did it by luck, because he didn’t deserve it. Felipe [Massa] deserved it a lot more. He was always more capable than Kimi and it was easy to beat him.”

F1 2011: Your Questions Asked (More Than 50 of Them!) (PlayStation Blog)

Various titbits on the upcoming new Formula 1 game. Includes more coy hints about the presence of the safety car, and some revealing insights into how restrictive the FOM licence is.

Paul Di Resta linked with move to Mercedes as Michael Schumacher replacement (Daily Record)

Anthony Hamilton: “I’d like to think that there is an interest – Paul is a Mercedes protege. I’m proud of him. He will make a great replacement for someone at a top team.”

2014 engines will still be ‘special’ – Renault Sport (ESPN)

Rob White: “The introduction of turbochargers and reduction of revs will result in less noise. However, it’s extremely important to understand that these are going to be special engines that will make lot of noise, which would be a sort of a success factor for this formula.”

Vodafone VIP Live in Manchester (Vodafone)

“Watch Jenson [Button] race along the streets of central Manchester in a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 car on 29 August – part of our bank holiday event.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

Was Channel 4’s F1 bid realistic? Based on what we saw yesterday, Journeyer isn’t sure:

Channel 4 actually proposed a lot of general things. Even without any specifics, they would’ve needed a lot of money to pull it off.

Even more extended coverage than the BBC? (They mentioned no red-button hideaways). Shows that use the FOM archive? Those things don’t come cheap. And that’s without even going into Channel 4?óÔé¼??s limited budget – even with the ad breaks.

All this is secondary to what they’re willing to pay Bernie, that is true. But I also think Channel 4 was promising the moon here, and ended up being an unfeasible option.
Journeyer

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On this day in F1

Alan Jones won for Williams in the Austrian Grand Prix on this day in 1979.

He was followed home by Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari and Jacques Laffite in a Ligier.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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84 comments on “Indian farmers threaten to “dismantle” F1 track”

  1. Villeneuve reminds me why I could never stand him. As if he could judge any other driver. He is the very last to say someone doesn’t deserve a title. I should just ignore him, anger isn’t good for my heart.

    1. yeah, Raikkonen was simply better in 2007 than Massa was.

      1. He was also better over his entire career. Villeneuve won 11 races out of 163, Räikkönen won 18 out of 155. Massa’s so far won 11 out of 144. Massa’s podium percentage is 22.92% (and dropping with every race in which he fails to podium). Kimi’s podium percentage is 40%. He podiumed 62 times which ties him with Coulthard for 6th highest all time, and Coulthard took nearly 100 more races to get to that number. Villeneuve’s podium percentage is a whopping 14.11%. Yep Räikkönen’s title was gifted, and Villeneuve’s title was richly deserved. The stats must have lied. He makes Lauda seem very reasonable.

        1. … Course Kimi had a very competitive car… I mean, at no point was his car unlikely to be on the podium was it?

          1. Apart from the 2001 Sauber… but his career was so short (9 years) that it’s easier to have a higher podium percentage.

          2. Massa has had a competitive car since 2005, and was also in sauber.

            Kimi had 2002, 2004, 2006 McLarens and 2009 Ferrari which were terrible.

        2. You could also argue that Kimi missed out on a few other titles while at McLaren for various reasons that were not down to his driving. Massa missed out on 2008 by a hair, and I don’t remember JV missing out on any….

      2. I don’t think that is true. Massa had a lot of bad luck that year in the pits that Kimi didn’t.

    2. I would agree. I am not even sure why he is talking about it anymore?

      1. I guess we all agree that what JV said was absolutely stupid.

        https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=2207

    3. In 2007 title fight Massa suffered a mechanical failure in Monza which dented his championship hopes. Same happened to Raikkonen in 2008. JV should be the last one to talk about deserving drivers since he was always after the most sought after – deserving money.

    4. I must say, I liked him as a driver when he entered F1, but his years at BAR showed both his driving and his off track commenting detoriate fast.

    5. Kimi snatched the 2007 WDC title from the Maccas but Felipe wasn’t even a serious contender that year. The title that Felipe should have won was 2008’s, but it was abduced by a nonentity, not by Kimi. So JV is partly right (the 2008 title belongs to Felipe) but partly wrong (the 2007 title was wholly deserved by Kimi).

      1. Are you kidding me? Massa was ahead of Raikkonen in the standings before he had to retire at Monza.

        1. I love Villeneuve but this is decade old sour grapes. I think he can’t get over that he wanted Hakkinen’s drive for 2002.

        2. Kimi won 6 races, Massa 3. Kimi also had car failures. Massa broke his car on the curbs.

          1. So, Kimi had car failures and Massa broke his car. Hmm. That seems like two ways of saying the same thing.

            Whatever you think of 2007, Massa would have been a deserving winner in 2008. In fact, if it’d been discovered Renault cheated at the time of the Grand Prix, Alonso would have been DQ’d and Massa would have had more points that Hamilton. Kimi was his team mate that year too.

          2. DVC – wow, so you’re saying if someone’s hydraulics failed by normal driving is the same as someone driving straight through curbs or hitting a wall. no wonder there’s so many heated arguments on here, the people are clueless.

          3. Depends if the normal driving involves driving over the curves or not doesn’t it.

            You didn’t give any examples so the whole comment is wide open to interpretation, that was my point.

            Also, watch who you’re calling clueless. That’s how things get nasty, resorting to insults.

      2. Massa did not deserve the 2008 championship.

        5 spins, 2 laps down, last place at silverstone. Spins off at Aus and Sepang. Singapore pit problem still could have happened. Fuji, they penalised bourdais for Massa running into him. China Kimi had to back off to help him. Brazil kimi didn’t fight to win.

        Also lets remember, 2008 Qualifying still used fuel not low fuel. Massa always had 2-5 laps LESS fuel, now that its everyone on low fuel he is getting owned. His race pace was never good. His wins were all from pole. Most overrated on the grid for years. All it is, is Kimi haters/Alonso fanboys who can’t face it that Kimi is the fastest on the grid without even trying.

      3. Massa did not deserve the 2008 championship.
        5 spins, 2 laps down, last place at silverstone. Spins off at Aus and Sepang. Singapore pit problem still could have happened. Fuji, they penalised bourdais for Massa running into him. China Kimi had to back off to help him. Brazil kimi didn’t fight to win.
        Also lets remember, 2008 Qualifying still used fuel not low fuel. Massa always had 2-5 laps LESS fuel, now that its everyone on low fuel he is getting owned. His race pace was never good. His wins were all from pole. Most overrated on the grid for years. All it is, is Kimi haters/Alonso fans who can’t face it that Kimi is the fastest on the grid without even trying.

        1. By that argument Hill didn’t deserve his Championship either, nor did Hamilton. Drivers make mistakes, drivers at the top make mistakes pushing for the win. Some of the champions have made quite a lot of mistakes in their Championship year, that’s what pressure does to you. In the end, anyone who is near the top of the points table, within a win or so would be a deserving winner 99% of the time.

  2. To have JB whom I have been a massive fan off for years and years driving in my home city is amazing.

    It’s not even funny how excited I am. I don’t think I’ve been this excited since I got Tracy island as a kid. Im like a child who is doped up on sugar since inbound out.

    I can die happy now.

    I can tell you now. If you are there I will be the one in a Lego JB teeshirt!

    1. See you down the front!

  3. Mark Hitchcock
    12th August 2011, 0:11

    Was waiting and hoping for one of those street demonstration runs to come back to the UK…..and when it does I’m working!
    Need to get a job somewhere that doesn’t open on a bank holiday.

    1. I suggest a bank.

      1. HAHAHA! Full of win. :D

      2. Not even working for a bank means your safe. I’m working all Bank Holiday weekend on a project for my bank, grrr

  4. Can you imagine the Channel 4 coverage? I could see them having two annoying T4 presenters who would be interviewing pop-stars on the grid and try to make F1 cool and ‘hip’.

    1. And that would be what … entirely unlike contemporary BBC coverage, where Brundle is interviewing pop-stars and other vacuous empty-skulled “celebs”, right there, on the grid, trying to make F1 cool and ‘hip’.

      How do C4, who you don’t know what they would do, get slagged off, for doing what BBC actually does right now?

      I really think you need to worry a bit more about a selfish and self-regarding BBC management that sold you out, froze out alternate free-to-air solutions, and provided covering fire for a pay-TV bid that lost you half your races.

      Any scorn going around would be better reserved for those that actually did you wrong, and maybe a bit less on hypothetical and baseless assertions of what others may or may not have done, if given the opportunity.

      1. It would have interrupted the Hollyoaks omnibus though, right in the middle of T4!

        1. channel 4’s cricket coverage was absolutely first class (well, it was test matches actually…er, sorry), and they had the WRC for a bit which was ok (better than Dave at least).
          If they did have the F1, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. everyone carried on with ITV (which has dreadful sports coverage, except the tour de france) and suffered through it – this simply isn’t an option with Sky.

          still annoyed.

          1. Which races does Sky have anyway? Does anyone know? The BBC has those races on delay right?

            So, if it’s just the races in rubbish time zones for the UK, then it won’t be all that bad. Being back in Australia now I routinely have to avoid hearing the result of a GP in the morning until I can watch the recording later that night. You guys might not even have to do that, you just get up at a normal time and watch the replay at say, 10 on the BBC.

      2. It’s quite unfair to put that accusation on Brundle, his music knowledge seems to end in around 1978.

        I dont know if they would try to make F1 ‘hip’ (at least no more than Humphrey does), they kept the tone in cricket quite reasonable I think.

  5. I could see them having two annoying T4 presenters who would be interviewing pop-stars on the grid and try to make F1 cool and ‘hip’.

    but F1 is cool and ‘hip’

    1. No, it’s ‘sizzling, sexy, and entertaining.’

      Or that’s what Ron Howard says anyway. :D

  6. We shouldn’t really pay much attention to Villeneuve, he got replaced by a rookie ;)

    Anyway,

    Didn’t deserve the championship? He won 6 races that season, 2 more than Hamilton and Alonso, and twice the amount of his teammate. Not to mention 2 reliability issues during races whereas the McLaren’s reliability was bulletproof. He had a near-perfect first season with Ferrari, only failing to win at Monza, where he finished 3rd behind the two McLarens. I feel his comments are unjustified there.

    Don’t get me wrong, I do feel Massa deserved the title in 2008 just as much as Hamilton (coming from a Hamilton fan). And for him to say Kimi was easily beaten is also unjustified, 2007: 10-4 to Raikkonen (in races both drivers finished), 2008: 8-3 Massa, 2009: 3-2 Massa (before his accident). Looking at Kimi’s performances in his career before then also justify my point. Winning from 17th in Suzuka (where overtaking isn’t easy) and taking the fight to Alonso in a car which was almost dangerously unreliable.

    After Raikkonen won the title in 2007, he just seemed to drift off slightly, but came back strong in 2009. I feel both drivers are on par with each other, possibly with Raikkonen edging Massa in terms of being a complete driver.

    1. well summed up. I would say the more likely reason for Villeneuve saying those things is he’s mates with Massa and not with Raikkonen or maybe just like most of the rest of us feels sorry for Massa.

    2. Raikkonen had the best car in 2007, he never lived up the all the hype he was getting. He made it hard for himself by letting the McLarens and Massa finish ahead of him alot in the first half. Let’s not forget that he did suffer from tyre temp problems which would also stop him from winning in 2008. He was lucky that he was up against a rookie and a self-destructing Alonso. Massa also had more bad luck than he did that year, before Monza he was behind Massa in points, after Monza he was ahead only thanks to a retirement for Felipe.

    3. More to the point, Villeneuve’s one and only WDC in 1997 owed just a little to good fortune.

      Williams were far superior to Ferrari that year, but Villeneuve still went into the final round a point behind Schumacher.

      1. If only Hill’s Arrows had gone the distance eh?

  7. those Indians should enjoy the track, it will bring more tourist and thus more revenue and bring jobs to the locals..

    1. The article is quite brief, but by the face of it I’d say they aren’t against the gp per se. I think they are doing what they can to be fairly compensated, not to mention assured a viable future, now that their land and source of revenue and sustenance, has been taken from them.

      They’re not saying no gp. They’re saying no gp unless you deliver what you’ve allegedly promised. Fair enough to ask for education to do something new if you’re a farmer who has his farm taken for the “greater good”.

      All that said, there are 300 of them, and with India’s desire to be seen as modern and civilized, I hope there will be a positive, sensible solution to this.

    2. Yes – those farmers really should see their land getting taken over against their will, getting little compensation and then seeing all the jobs and investment going to others hugher up the food chain and be happy with it shouldn’t they?

    3. Well the government bought their land, and they took the money, and this would have been 2 or more years ago. So for them to turn round now and say it wasn’t a fair deal… I’m sorry, but more fool you. You took the money, you don’t have a leg to stand on.

      1. Don’t know about the particular site of the track, but Noida was the scene of serious farmer revolts and uprisings. It isn’t as straightforward as selling and getting the money ajokay, in north India “development” only helps the rich. As Snow Donkey pointed out it isn’t just land, but their sustenance.

        Often peasants don’t get paid the right amount or compensation. The land isn’t purchased all the time, it is more or less “acquired” for so called developmental activities. The peasants have to be satisfied with crumbs under the table. They can’t let that happen, and so they revolt.

        Don’t know if the Jaypee track and sports complex is part of this mess, but it is around the same area. Think the farmers are only seeking to get some attention.

    4. the truth is that their are state elections in the state of UP next year, where the race is situated..so all political parties are trying to create and then HYPE issues that really shouldn’t be there..land allotment issue is 1 of them and has jeopardized 1000’s of crores of investment in the region of noida..both the state and the farmers are at fault, state changing master plans and jacking up land prices after acquiring land and farmers agitating after they have received compensation..but as they say the show must go on and the authority will make sure that the issue is resolved :)

  8. Found some amazing F1 docos last night – great footage:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzAozSEkIgY

      1. These are great. They show 2 a weekend here in Australia about (6-8 so far). I’v managed to record each one so far.

    1. Thanks! That footage is so well preserved and in such high quality it seems difficult to believe it was from the ’70s!

    2. Thanks Hamish, great find!

  9. I always used to joke that if Channel 4 broadcasted F1, Davina McCall would be there shouting “You are live on the grid, please don’t swear!”

    If they had got it, that could’ve happened. *shudders*

    1. In all probability she might have had a role. She used to cover F1 to some degree with MTV in the 90s

    2. It wouldn’t be Davina’s first involvement in F1. Back in 94 she was working for MTV Europe when they sponsored Simtek and she presented the programmes/features they broadcast that was part of the sponsorship deal

  10. Hey guys,

    Villeneuve may have a point, but he should shut up because he’s a hypocrite. As if he wasn’t lucky in his 1997 Williams. The most dominant car, and only manages to win it at the last race. I understand he’s defending Massa, but perhaps if he’s too sympathetic of him, maybe he should give him his own World Championship.

    It’s a shame Kimi never won the WDC for Mclaren, as I was a massive fan of his style. I could never grow to dislike him, despite moving to Ferrari, after growing up through his Macca days.

  11. JV is a bit like Irvine, they can’t help talking rubbish

  12. Maybe the Indian farmers can change some of the track, so it doesnt look the same as Kyalami

  13. Di Resta? Seriously? Thats really sad.

    1. The article is based on Schumacher saying stuff to an Italian magazine which his manager denies he said. The Italian magazine has since taken the article offline.

      But now we have a pile of British sites quoting Schumacher saying things he never said. Then saying Di Resta is in line for the seat because of his Mercedes connections.

      1. Was that Corriere della Sera? Didn’t know they’d taken the article down. Have they put anything up explaining why?

        1. I haven’t checked the original but was just going on what some guy said, might look it up now to see.

          But topgear done an article with quotes from the Corriere della Sera and now it has disappeared. http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/michael-schumacher-mercedes-f1-quitting-2011-08-11?&pager.offset=5#commentsListBottom

          1. Thanks for that, definitely worth knowing!

          2. I can’t find the original so looks like it has been deleted. Apparently the article appeared on their website and not in their magazine.

            It seemed unusual because went against everything Schumacher had been saying up to that point and then it was denied by his manager, saying Schumi never talked to Corriere della Sera since his comeback.

  14. Raikkonen is much better than Jack anytime. Jack talks too much and how long was his career in F1, very short lived. Kimi missed at least two more WDC if not for McLaren’s fragile car. ICEMAN!

    India – Protest, bargaining and swirling of words will not halt. Strange, track is completed then the protest begins. Who should we trust, Bernie or the Indians?
    They had better make sure security is top priority, not a good feeling at all.

    1. Actually JV’s career was longer than you might think. He just wasn’t very noticeable or successful towards the end of it…

  15. Oh Villenueve….don’t u have any other work….
    You can say Kimi didn’t deserve as much as massa in 2008…but 2007 was nobody but kimi Raikkonen…
    and what about previous years where he lost out to alonso because of reliability problem…u cannot say Alonso didn’t deserve the title because he was lucky kimi had reliability problems…everybody deserves their title…cause even if they were fortunate….fortune always favours the brave…

    1. He does have other work. The trouble is that some of it involves writing an opinion column for F1 Racing. Suppose he has to get practise for it somehow :(

    2. what happened to his music career?

      1. You mean the single flopped single? I guess you can still download it somewhere or get it in JVs restaurant in Montreal.

  16. Ooooh, pleasantly surprised to get a COTD for that. :D

    Just to make it clear, I like Channel 4’s ideas. They do sound great (as you’d expect when there are no specifics). But given the circumstances, I think they would’ve found it difficult to implement it successfully had they been awarded the bid.

    1. Cheers, very sensible COTD for you there.

  17. Says Villeneuve…

  18. Ever since Villeneuve failed to get back into formula one, all he’s done is critise the formula as well as other drivers (almost all of whom have much more talent than himself). It’s quite sad – he’s really not doing himself any favours.

  19. Sad to hear about India,the farmer created the same trouble with Tata Company when they tried to make a plant that will produce Tata Nano

    1. To me it sounds a bit as if they just found out, there migth be a bit better deal in it for them and threaten to do something in the hope of receiving another load of money or benefits.

  20. I absolutely disagree with Villeneuve. For sure, we can discuss whether Raikkonen is a better driver than Massa or vice versa. And I also wish Massa had won one title so far. But, in my opinion, every F1 title has been deserved, no matter whether it was won by Phil Hill, Jenson Button, Jim Clark, Fernando Alonso or Kimi Raikkonen. Well if some driver won the title by cheating and seriously breaking the rules then he probably didn’t deserve it. Other than that, I think this talk about driver X being a more worthy champion than driver Y is simply rubbish. If McLaren had been able to resolve their internal issues in 2007, then Raikkonen wouldn’t be a world champion. If Schumacher had no car trouble during 1997, he would have won the title that year and Villeneuve wouldn’t be a world champion and nobody would care about his opinion today. If pigs had wings, they would fly.

    Once again I get the impression that Villeneuve desperately wants to grab some public attention and is unable to do it by winning races or running some racing team so he just creates headlines by coming out with high-sounding statements.

    1. Sounds about right. His Autosport column always makes for a weird read.

  21. 2007 was Lewis’ best season so far. Not Fiarraris. But Fiarrari won! The rest is history.
    To compare Kimi and Felipe and conclude the later is better driver is nothing but pure ignorance at show! Kimi’s one stroke moves on steering wheel are classic’s. It’s a driving at it’s best. The only person doing it better is Walter Rohrl. Check the youtube if you don’t know what I’m talking about. If you still don’t understand I recomend reading one of Rohrl’s books.

  22. Jacques Villeneuve got lucky in 1997 with his team mate Heinz Harald Frentzen who seemed to under perform in a championship winning car. the fact Jacques only won in a Williams of the 90s says it all!

  23. Sounding good for F1 2011. It’s the little things that need tweaking for me, for example, your pit crew being so loyal! A change of faces is always welcome.

  24. I can’t believe Jacques comments, he is the most mediocre champion of the last 30 years, he won on the last race his championship having the best car by a mile. Kimi had a lot of championship worth seasons with Mclaren and won in his Firts year with the pricing horse, thats a real champion. I guess JV developed a friendship ith Massa while they were in Sauber together, Massa’s career risin and Jacque’s dying

  25. I don’t understand how someone can say that an entire championship was won by pure luck. A goal can be scored by luck, a race can be won by luck, but an entire championship? Luck causes favourable results in brief circumstances, I don’t believe it can be applied to an entire season of racing.

  26. Considering how much money an Indian GP will make, I think it’s only fair that the Indian government and F1 put some money into developing the local area. It’s a shame it always has to come down to this kind of thing.

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