Sunday was one of those rare occasions when it was almost impossible to find fault with motorsport. F1 produced its best dry weather race for some time (even if the safety car helped) and the US Moto GP was the best the series has produced for some years.
The Ben Evans Column articles archive
The Ben Evans Column
The Ben Evans column: Donington Park
Posted onStrangely for a year that has been so political (again) most of the politicking has been going on off-track and has had little bearing on any of the races. Apart from the eeny-meeny-miny-mo approach to qualifying penalties. At Silverstone last weekend the two major elements of political discussion were the proposed Formula Two category and … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Donington Park
The Ben Evans Column: F1 and tennis
Posted onIf there was any doubt before France that Lewis Hamilton?óÔé¼Ôäós F1 honeymoon was over there certainly isn?óÔé¼Ôäót now. In a weekend where the McLaren team was subject to some extremely harsh penalties (why was Heikki Kovalainen penalised but not Kimi Raikkonen during qualifying?) Hamilton?óÔé¼Ôäós race was effectively over midway through the first lap.
The Ben Evans column: Dallara
Posted onLast weekend I had my first Italian motor racing experience: complete with drivers refusing to leave crashed cars, excessive discussion about every aspect of the weekend, and some absolutely stunning girls in and around the paddock. It is often said that on the driving side Italian motorsport never delivers to its potential. Italy hasn?óÔé¼Ôäót produced … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Dallara
The Ben Evans column: Piquet, Moto GP, and the star F1 driver of 2009
Posted onOnly a handful of races into the season and already the doom mongers are out for the scalp of Nelson Piquet Jnr The Renault driver?óÔé¼Ôäós erratic start to the year is, in some people?óÔé¼Ôäós view, enough to cost him his seat should he disappoint again at Monaco. Now, though I have never been the greatest … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Piquet, Moto GP, and the star F1 driver of 2009
The Ben Evans Column: Rubens Barrichello and Riccardo Patrese
Posted onAt the Turkish Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello will set a new record as the driver who has started the most Grand Prix, with 257 starts eclipsing Ricardo Patrese?óÔé¼Ôäós monumental 265 races. In many respects Barrichello and Patrese have had rather similar careers. Both enjoyed meteoric rises to F1 courtesy of some stellar performances in junior … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: Rubens Barrichello and Riccardo Patrese
The Ben Evans column: Driving Dijon
Posted onAt the very moment that F1 Fanatics were tuning in to the Bahrain Grand Prix I was busy reliving one of the greatest F1 battles of all time racing at Dijon-Prenois. Dijon was home to F1 racing on and off from 1972 through to 1984, before falling into an international decline that was completed with … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Driving Dijon
The Ben Evans column: qualified failure
Posted onAnother week, another qualifying rules change, as F1 strives to create a made-for-TV-extravaganza that also produces a good race. The one-hour, 12 lap, sessions used to be cracking TV and a rare opportunity to see what the teams and drivers could conjure up when they focussed their efforts on a single banzai lap. Problem was … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: qualified failure
The Ben Evans column: ITV aren’t bad
Posted onAnother early start for the UK’s armchair fans unfortunately didn?óÔé¼Ôäót equate to another exciting race last Sunday. Ferrari dominated and McLaren floundered – with Lewis Hamilton struggling get close to Mark Webber?óÔé¼Ôäós Red Bull and Jarno Trulli?óÔé¼Ôäós Toyota, let alone actually make a move. Yes he may have been driving for points (in the second … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: ITV aren’t bad
The Ben Evans column: A race worth getting up early for
Posted onF1 2008 started with a bang in Australia – and as a weekend did more to vindicate the views the armchair enthusiast (you and I) have held about F1 for a long time. Before the action even kicked off, I thought that Bernie Ecclestone?óÔé¼Ôäós comments demanding that Australia move to a night time race to … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: A race worth getting up early for
The Ben Evans Column: A new year
Posted onEarly March rivals October as my favourite time of the motor sport year. October is great because for me there is nothing like watching Formula Ford from Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch sipping a mug of coffee as dusk closes in. All the championships are playing out and the winners and losers of the … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: A new year
The Ben Evans column: Slowdown
Posted onAnyone with even a passing interest in the non-motorsport world cannot failed to have noticed a global recession is on the horizon. Those who like their economics with a whiff of F1 will have noted that the teams are finding it harder to pull in those all important sponsorship dollars. A disaster, surely? In the … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Slowdown
The Ben Evans column – first thoughts on 2008
Posted onAlready 2008 is looking like being one of the most interesting F1 seasons for a long time, if only because if 2007 was a year of transition, then 2008 will be a year of consolidation (although there are a good number of top driver moves too). This is just my hunch, but I think that … Continue reading The Ben Evans column – first thoughts on 2008
The Ben Evans Column: Taking safety seriously
Posted onI recently picked up a copy of Nigel Roebuck?óÔé¼Ôäós Inside Formula 1, a collection of his columns from the 1980s. He sticks to his usual themes: Villeneuve, Smoking, Villeneuve, evil left-wing politicians and Villeneuve. But as ever it?óÔé¼Ôäós worth keeping with it for the nuggets of pure gold. In particular I was drawn to his … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: Taking safety seriously
The Ben Evans Column: The next Lewis Hamilton
Posted onAssessing the environmental impact of the 2007 F1 Championship, it is vital to consider all the trees that were cut down for the reprints of the Lewis Hamilton cash-in books which have subsequently appeared on the shelves. Clearly those chapters lauding his d?â?®but title success have had to be reprinted…
The Ben Evans column: Passion fading
Posted onPart of my Motorsport-loving self died on Monday It had been on life-support for a lot of 2007, but on Monday morning it finally popped its clogs and departed. Unlike 10.4m other Brits I actually missed the Brazilian GP as I was at Brands Hatch making my annual pilgrimage to the Formula Ford Festival, so … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Passion fading
The Ben Evans Column: I’d rather be Raikkonen
Posted onOver the weekend I found myself running through the various scenarios that could play out in Brazil on Sunday night. Obviously there is the boring maths bit, who needs to finish where to clinch what. But I was more interested in the different strategies that can be employed by the drivers. On reflection I concluded … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: I’d rather be Raikkonen
The Ben Evans column: Hamilton’s Mansell moment
Posted onWatching Sunday’s Chinese GP, I found that Mark Blundell’s summation ‘I believe Lewis did nothing wrong’ – bordered somewhere between the scarcely credible and utterly preposterous. Is that ‘nothing wrong – aside from crashing in the pit lane and dicing with Raikkonen when it was totally unnecessary’? Much as Nigel Mansell did in Mexico in … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Hamilton’s Mansell moment
The Ben Evans column: Better DVDs, please
Posted onI missed Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix because I like to sleep in the tiny hours of the morning. Unfortunately my girlfriend then dragged me out of the house for a country walk and so I missed the repeat as well… As a result my motor sport viewing on Sunday was reduced to a quick spin … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Better DVDs, please
The Ben Evans Column – DTM’s lesson for F1
Posted onI was delighted to see on Sunday that the DTM bosses truly showed where their priorities lie, by depriving the fans in Barcelona together with a large TV audience of anything approaching a race. Yes, withdrawing all your cars makes a statement. Unfortunately for Audi that statement is not ‘Vorsprung Durch Technich’ but rather ‘We … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column – DTM’s lesson for F1