Norris is more critical of his driving than we are – Brown

25 comments on “Norris is more critical of his driving than we are – Brown”

1. 

   Phylyp (@phylyp)
   5th January 2020, 2:32

   I agree with CotD, and with those who felt the German GP got an undue amount of praise for what was almost a lottery in terms of crashing out or finishing.

   It was certainly a spectacular race, in terms of the show. But to me, a good race is one that I can use to show a non-F1 person what makes F1 enjoyable. In this season itself, I’d say there were a few races that qualify – two that come to mind are Hamilton chasing down and beating Max at Hungary, and Leclerc fending off the Mercedes duo at Monza (and there are others as well). The former was also a good demonstration of not just on-track racing but pitwall strategy, and the latter was also a good race to showcase a few of F1’s problems (track limits, penalties).
   1. 

      bosyber (@bosyber)
      5th January 2020, 9:04

      Very well put @phylyp, completely agree.
   2. 

      ColdFly (@)
      5th January 2020, 12:35

      Yet the race got racing reviews on the day.
      Some fans even gave it an 11. I wonder were they are now, @phylyp ;)
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         5th January 2020, 12:43

         @coldfly – Good catch. Like the year we are in, this is with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight :)
         1. 

            ColdFly (@)
            5th January 2020, 15:55

            the benefit of 20/20 hindsight

            fitting. @phylyp

            PS I read the reviews of the German race again. It reminded me why many people rated it so highly (I think I gave it an 8 or 9).
            Many focussed on the fact that all drivers were challenged equally by the slippery conditions. It was much less a guaranteed top 6, where they even get that position if they have a poor day.
            I probably don’t want to see a whole season of those races, but a couple of them would be welcome. Call it a lottery or survival of the fittest; it is a welcome change from the other races.
            1. 

               frood19 (@frood19)
               6th January 2020, 10:14

               @coldfly yes, a lottery is probably an unfair way to describe it. it was still a grand prix and the guy who finished in the shortest time was the winner. the fact that it was one of the sport’s big names, know to be good in the wet and driving a very good car, probably indicates there wasn’t much of a lottery (luck) to it. we had a number of rainy races in 2014 and hamilton won them all!

               i recall feeling a bit frustrated one year when we had a lot of barmy races near the beginning of the season (may have been 2010) so it was difficult to tell what the “true” pecking order was. but thinking about it now, the top guys generally all come out near the top regardless of conditions. it all evens out over the season.
         2. 

            ForzaAlonsoF1
            6th January 2020, 12:50

            Regarding the Alfa commercial featuring Kimi. I do wonder just exactly how hard the director struggled to get some enthusiasm out of Kimi.
            1. 

               Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
               9th January 2020, 11:53

               @ForzaAlonsoF1 Probably said, “The sooner you look enthusiastic, the sooner we can finish, and the sooner you can do something of your own choice”. With a free-spirited professional like Kimi, that would probably work all by itself ;)
   3. 

      erikje
      5th January 2020, 15:43

      The German GP was a game of keeping your wits and making the least mistakes while setting good laptimes.
      Of course the last 10 laps shuffled the positions behind VER, but Max and his team made the best decisions and stayed ahead SC after SC. (and indeed there where a lot of them;)
      Just look at the last laps where he build a 7 seconds gap with the rest.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYHQmBULhLc

      Another impressive race was Austria. Fighting from a very bad start to the win was one of the most impressive fights we have seen in years.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3L7WzpAsjY

      Silvestone was another great race.. mostly because of this:
      https://youtu.be/RmvZyC6s_Wk
      And a pity the foolish mistake by VET
      Vhttps://youtu.be/TjiCXhGuLgw?t=345
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjiCXhGuLgw
   4. 

      JimG (@jimg)
      6th January 2020, 12:48

      I’d say that chaotic races like Hockenheim test the whole team: the drivers have to keep the cars on the track, the strategists have to stay on top of rapidly changing circumstances, the mechanics have to be ready for multiple pit stops. Pretty much everything that Mercedes didn’t do for a change!

      On a normal weekend pretty much everything is pre-planned, with multiple backups (Plan B, C and whatever) and it feels like there’s not much excitement. Plenty of skill, but if it all runs to plan there aren’t many surprises.

      I wouldn’t want crazy races every weekend but it’s fun to see one once in a while.
   5. 

      Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
      9th January 2020, 11:50

      @Phylyp It is true that the German Grand Prix was not a classic like Hungary and Italy were (I’d add Brazil without hesitation – we were spoilt for good races in the last 60% of 2019). It would certainly be a poor choice for demonstrating F1 at its most beginner-accessible – while a lot of beginners would “get” why it is exciting, it doesn’t really apture what F1 offers that, for example, banger racing doesn’t.

      However, nearly everyone likes an occasional farce if it is in the original sense of being funny in an absurd way… at the time the race happened, I think a lot of the F1 fandom was in need of a good laugh.
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         9th January 2020, 12:13

         However, nearly everyone likes an occasional farce if it is in the original sense of being funny in an absurd way… at the time the race happened, I think a lot of the F1 fandom was in need of a good laugh.

         @alianora-la-canta – indeed. And to that “chuckleworthy moments of ’19” we can also add Q3 at Monza. :)
2. 

   Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
   5th January 2020, 2:41

   I wonder if Toyota would push Sebastien Ogier to take part in the Dakar next year, since he’s announced his retirement from WRC. It would be a stunning coup for the Dakar organizers, getting legends from other disciplines in quick succession – Sainz, Loeb, Alonso and then Ogier.
   1. 

      Qeki (@qeki)
      5th January 2020, 15:07

      Well not a far fetch idea. If he wants to continue racing maybe dakar or rallycross?
3. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   5th January 2020, 7:50

   I also agree with the COTD. Yes, the German GP was exciting, but perhaps not for all the right reasons, so I find it a slightly overrated one, but overall, there were several races with a decent amount of battles for a position at different parts of the field, not only the British GP.
   1. 

      anon
      5th January 2020, 21:00

      @jerejj, there was a fair bit of action in the midfield pack, but the problem is that very little attention was given to it as the focus was predominantly on the drivers near the front of the field.

      It wasn’t exactly uncommon for people to mention passing moves in the midfield pack, only for the majority of fans to be oblivious to it because nobody showed it, either live or even with a replay during the race. It must be said that, for the bulk of this season, the quality of the TV coverage was pretty widely criticised for focussing on uninteresting or irrelevant items and generally missing most of the interesting battles – if the purpose was to provide a coherent picture of how the entire race unfolded for all drivers, then it resolutely failed in most instances.

      Back to your other comments, I would say that you have a fair point about the German GP being exciting, but perhaps not for all the right reasons – there was unpredictability, but there were phases where it felt like it went beyond a test of skill and ended up being more about random luck.

      In that respect, whilst the German GP might have been a more exciting show, I think I am inclined to agree that the British GP was probably better in terms of the quality of the racing and was perhaps a better demonstration of the skills of the drivers and the strengths of their respective cars.
4. 

   Ipsom
   5th January 2020, 9:21

   Surprised and disappointed there’s no post on Dakar
   1. 

      F1 Codger
      5th January 2020, 13:41

      Is Dakar now just a type-name like Hoover or Olympics and the event can be held anywhere (but Dakar).
      1. 

         Ipsom
         5th January 2020, 14:57

         I guess so… at least it pays homage to the original route
      2. 

         Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
         9th January 2020, 11:56

         @F1 Codger It’s the same organisers as on the original Dakar, and I think they hope to go back to the original route once the safety issues on certain parts of the African part of it are cleared. Unfortunately, nobody can put a firm date on when this will occur, so in the meantime, they’re trying to keep the idea going by having a challenging route elsewhere in the world. These have multi-year contracts, so even if the route became safe during this contract, I’d expect the Dakar to continue to be away until such time as other contractual duties were cleared.
5. 

   Balue (@balue)
   5th January 2020, 17:57

   Raikkonen selling hatchbacks is slightly sad to see. You’d think he has enough not to sell himself like this.
   1. 

      Robbie (@robbie)
      5th January 2020, 21:13

      @balue I once thought that of a certain female singer who also did a TV commercial for a car maker, to my disappointment, and then I found out she was donating her time and proceeds to a charity, as was the car maker, in exchange for her presence in the ad. So when I think the same as you have expressed…’as if they need it’…I wonder if they are actually doing a selfless deed. They might just be. Or they give in plenty of other ways.
   2. 

      Cat
      5th January 2020, 22:09

      It could well be that it is part of his contract, doing marketing for the brand etc. I believe we’ve seen drivers from other teams doing similar, though maybe not on TV adverts.
6. 

   rsp123 (@rsp123)
   5th January 2020, 19:59

   Trump has kicked the hornets’ nest (to divert attention away from his impeachment) and new hostilities are predicted in the Gulf. I wonder if the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi GPs will get pulled? I don’t suppose there are contractual obligations about racing in war zones…
   1. 

      Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
      9th January 2020, 12:11

      @rsp123 There are, but the definition of “unsafe” the FIA uses is “travel companies won’t cover a motorsport activity in that precise location”. If the track is safe, there’s an international airport whose route to it is coverable by insurance, and there are arrangements in place for them to stay somewhere (even if it involves adapting circuit buildings or the like), then the race will go ahead. When Russia and Ukraine were fighting in the Crimea in 2015, the Russian Grand Prix happened within 100 miles of it – because the fighting was unlikely to affect anything in Sochi, and the insurers therefore continued to offer cover. There’s also the notorious example of Bahrain, where the race was cancelled in 2011 but not in 2012, due to different interpretations of the evolving situation and its likely effect on foreign travellers.

      Note that the insurance companies generally follow their home government’s travel policies for legal reasons (primarily, that insurers aren’t supposed to be deciding foreign policy by proxy). Therefore, if there is likely to be a cancellation for the Grand Prix, we’ll be seeing notices from the French, British, German, Italian, Swiss, and/or American governments. The FIA is French, Grands Prix are global events, and they’re organising them, so if the French government says “non”, the race won’t be happening. It may happen if France says yes and one of the others mentioned says no (unlikely as these nations share a lot of foreign intelligence with each other), then the race may or may not happen, but if it does, it will be minus at least one team due to force majeure.

      Teams can miss races due to force majeure without being thrown out of the championship, though FOM is entitled in that case not to provide monies for that race, depending on its judgment of the reason (I believe the default is not to pay in that scenario, since the team presumably made no contribution to the earning). Obviously if the race doesn’t happen to force majeure, there’d be a different argument about what happens with the race host fee (assuming the organiser did nothing to provoke the war)…

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