800 Races
Friday, May 28, 2010 at 09:37AM
So Ferrari has competed in 800 races. Who keeps these records and do we really care? What about 750, it somehow sounds more important than 800. I remember when the great Pele supposedly scored his 1000th goal. The goalkeeper had a tee shirt under his jersey with 1000 on it so he could be part of the celebration. That's something to be proud of? But what I want to know is, how do we know it was his 1000th? 1000 goals in what? All the matches he ever played in his life, on the beach, professionally? Do we really think someone in Brazil kept those records? Anyway, I am sure it is easier to count the number of Ferrari starts, but why do we want to know? In my book it is the last race that counts.
An F1 race in the US continues as a feeding frenzy for the media, both those gushing over it and those questioning the seriousness of it. I am continually surprised by the teams and sponsors saying they need a race to come to the States. As far as I know there are 19 races coming to the US this year, and we have had them coming for years via TV. Bernie worked out a long time ago that you do not have to race in a country to have an audience there. Australia watched F1 a long time before Adelaide in '85, thanks to Alan Jones, and Adelaide succeeded because of Alan. That is why Bernie is comfortable losing races in Europe because he knows that the Europeans will still watch it even if the race is being held in Turkey at a track no one goes to watch. And that suits Bernie, no crowds to make it hard to get in and out for him and the teams, and he can put billboards everywhere without worrying about blocking someone's view.
OK, so the marketing types like to put on promotions etc to sell their cars, but do 100,000 people, or even 200,000 at Indy, make any difference just because they're at the track and not watching the TV? Is the TV audience suddenly going to spike just because it is in the US, and does that translate into a larger audience all year for the coverage? Does anyone have any evidence that having the race at Indy or not has made a difference in the viewing figure, please comment if you do. For me, if the teams really want to build their sport in the US then invest some money to put the races on Network TV, or at least ESPN, and treat it seriously, not just as a time filler, find some real commentators, and find a way to get a couple of drivers like Alexander Rossi into an F1 car. No offence to Michael Andretti, but that did us no favors at all, and Scott Sharp was not the guy and nor were Torro Rosso the team to put him in. Maybe then you will have a chance against all the existing sport, let alone NASCAR. Martin Whitmarsh talks about tailoring F1 to suit the American fan when they're here, but having a fan walk ain't it. You may not have noticed but Basketball, Football etc do not need these, nice as they are.
Talking of Turkey, why do we have major ripples in this six year old track? Is it built on a rubbish dump like Brazil, or did we not get the correct pavement laid properly. Seems unlikely in this day and age that Mr. Tilke did not spec this and supervise it. Just curious.
In practice for Turkey the Red Bull Team rolled out their version of the F-Duct, but did not make an impact on the speed trap numbers while being second and third on the time chart. They continue to confound the experts as to what they are doing with that car that makes it so fast.
"Murphy The Bear" has his, I presume it is he, latest offering at www.murphythebear.com, always a good read. He predicts the demise of the prototypes in sports car racing as we know them, and the rise of the GT. This is no bad thing given the racing the GT's have been serving up, and let us not forget they have been times before when Le Mans was only GT's. In fact, if you are a purist, Le Mans was started to showcase just this type of car back at the dawn of time. Competitors drove their Grand Touring Bentley's etc, cars built to do the grand tour of Europe complete with luggage, to the track for those first races. (Does the FIA still require the FISA suitcase to fit somewhere in the car?) The cars were inspected in the Town Square, as they are to this day, one of the great parts of Le Mans week, and then driven out to the roads on the edge of town that made up the track to prove that the automobile had been sufficiently developed that it could run for 24 hours, with a riding mechanic of course to keep it going. So, as I said the other day, not much new under the sun.
An F1 race in the US continues as a feeding frenzy for the media, both those gushing over it and those questioning the seriousness of it. I am continually surprised by the teams and sponsors saying they need a race to come to the States. As far as I know there are 19 races coming to the US this year, and we have had them coming for years via TV. Bernie worked out a long time ago that you do not have to race in a country to have an audience there. Australia watched F1 a long time before Adelaide in '85, thanks to Alan Jones, and Adelaide succeeded because of Alan. That is why Bernie is comfortable losing races in Europe because he knows that the Europeans will still watch it even if the race is being held in Turkey at a track no one goes to watch. And that suits Bernie, no crowds to make it hard to get in and out for him and the teams, and he can put billboards everywhere without worrying about blocking someone's view.
OK, so the marketing types like to put on promotions etc to sell their cars, but do 100,000 people, or even 200,000 at Indy, make any difference just because they're at the track and not watching the TV? Is the TV audience suddenly going to spike just because it is in the US, and does that translate into a larger audience all year for the coverage? Does anyone have any evidence that having the race at Indy or not has made a difference in the viewing figure, please comment if you do. For me, if the teams really want to build their sport in the US then invest some money to put the races on Network TV, or at least ESPN, and treat it seriously, not just as a time filler, find some real commentators, and find a way to get a couple of drivers like Alexander Rossi into an F1 car. No offence to Michael Andretti, but that did us no favors at all, and Scott Sharp was not the guy and nor were Torro Rosso the team to put him in. Maybe then you will have a chance against all the existing sport, let alone NASCAR. Martin Whitmarsh talks about tailoring F1 to suit the American fan when they're here, but having a fan walk ain't it. You may not have noticed but Basketball, Football etc do not need these, nice as they are.
Talking of Turkey, why do we have major ripples in this six year old track? Is it built on a rubbish dump like Brazil, or did we not get the correct pavement laid properly. Seems unlikely in this day and age that Mr. Tilke did not spec this and supervise it. Just curious.
In practice for Turkey the Red Bull Team rolled out their version of the F-Duct, but did not make an impact on the speed trap numbers while being second and third on the time chart. They continue to confound the experts as to what they are doing with that car that makes it so fast.
"Murphy The Bear" has his, I presume it is he, latest offering at www.murphythebear.com, always a good read. He predicts the demise of the prototypes in sports car racing as we know them, and the rise of the GT. This is no bad thing given the racing the GT's have been serving up, and let us not forget they have been times before when Le Mans was only GT's. In fact, if you are a purist, Le Mans was started to showcase just this type of car back at the dawn of time. Competitors drove their Grand Touring Bentley's etc, cars built to do the grand tour of Europe complete with luggage, to the track for those first races. (Does the FIA still require the FISA suitcase to fit somewhere in the car?) The cars were inspected in the Town Square, as they are to this day, one of the great parts of Le Mans week, and then driven out to the roads on the edge of town that made up the track to prove that the automobile had been sufficiently developed that it could run for 24 hours, with a riding mechanic of course to keep it going. So, as I said the other day, not much new under the sun.
MPH
Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 11:15AM
The best page in Autosport is the editorial by Mark Hughes under the heading MPH. (sorry to you other motor sport journalists but he writes the best lines) Some years ago he wrote a piece at the start of a new season called"The First Lap," which with his permission I will reproduce here sometime. Pure poetry.
This April 29 edition talks of the future of F1, and I'll swear he has been reading some of my pieces. "The only way F1 can justify its existence is as a sport." As some of you have read the need to be "relevant" annoys me to tears, football and baseball being relevant only to their fans, as should motor racing. I particularly like this paragraph:
"F1 shouldn't stake it's justification on meeting the green aims of the motor industry. If it can contribute to the process, fine. But making it the sport's reason for existing is a very dangerous path to follow. Long term, the only way F1 will be able to justify its existence is purely as a sport, an abstract competition unconnected to the trends of the motor industry in much the same way that horse racing flourished despite the horse being supplanted by the car as a form of transport." I believe I have made the same point about horse racing myself, but hopefully more people will listen to Mark.
F1 is going through a navel gazing exercise at the moment to try and come up with new engine rules for 2013, in the context of an overall look at the car specifications. Motorsport has a piece this month where it brought three "experts" to comment on what they see as the way to go, and their answers highlight the problem in F1. Harry Trueman was the master of great lines, "can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen etc." One of his was "if you laid all the economists in America end to end they would all point in different directions." Well, that is what came out of the article for me. Paddy Lowe summed it up best, "The difficult bit is what do you actually do?" Paddy was questioning the green credentials of KERS, which has always to me been sold on that basis, so where does that leave us? Patrick Head seems more concerned with down force and where do we get it or lose it? Peter Wright is concerned with what the engine will look like and where will they come from. Now I respect Peter, but when he says we need the manufacturers to make us engines I have to disagree. I grew up in the Coventry Climax and Cosworth era. I know Ford payed for the Cossie to be designed, but it was and still is a non-manufacturer engine. What about Judd and AER? In the past we've had Brian Hart and I'm sure if the manufacturers all left someone would build an engine. Nature abhors a vacuum so someone will fill it, and who knows the racing might be better. In my mind the manufacturers need F1, not the other way around.
The British Touring Car Championship provides an interesting counterpoint to Peter's argument. The series has commissioned an engine to be built to the new spec that is available to any team for about a quarter of the cost of building your own, which you can still do, so it is not a one make series. The BTCC has also been subject to manufacturers leaving the series, to the point where it is nearly all privateers, but the racing is just as good, the number of cars good and crowds are still coming to watch, so you see, there is more than one way to skin that cat, with apologies to Cfor, my cat.
Last, it comes as no surprise that Mr. Tilke is going to design the f1 track in Austin. It seems the Governor is putting up $25m a year which presumably goes some way to paying Bernie's fee. Still a long way from having it built, but the question remains, if it is private investors as reported, how do they expect to make the money back? No one has learned that trick lately. As Chris Pook told me in 1985 just after he had given up and switched to CART at Long Beach, "if Bernie thinks you are making money he will increase the price!"
This April 29 edition talks of the future of F1, and I'll swear he has been reading some of my pieces. "The only way F1 can justify its existence is as a sport." As some of you have read the need to be "relevant" annoys me to tears, football and baseball being relevant only to their fans, as should motor racing. I particularly like this paragraph:
"F1 shouldn't stake it's justification on meeting the green aims of the motor industry. If it can contribute to the process, fine. But making it the sport's reason for existing is a very dangerous path to follow. Long term, the only way F1 will be able to justify its existence is purely as a sport, an abstract competition unconnected to the trends of the motor industry in much the same way that horse racing flourished despite the horse being supplanted by the car as a form of transport." I believe I have made the same point about horse racing myself, but hopefully more people will listen to Mark.
F1 is going through a navel gazing exercise at the moment to try and come up with new engine rules for 2013, in the context of an overall look at the car specifications. Motorsport has a piece this month where it brought three "experts" to comment on what they see as the way to go, and their answers highlight the problem in F1. Harry Trueman was the master of great lines, "can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen etc." One of his was "if you laid all the economists in America end to end they would all point in different directions." Well, that is what came out of the article for me. Paddy Lowe summed it up best, "The difficult bit is what do you actually do?" Paddy was questioning the green credentials of KERS, which has always to me been sold on that basis, so where does that leave us? Patrick Head seems more concerned with down force and where do we get it or lose it? Peter Wright is concerned with what the engine will look like and where will they come from. Now I respect Peter, but when he says we need the manufacturers to make us engines I have to disagree. I grew up in the Coventry Climax and Cosworth era. I know Ford payed for the Cossie to be designed, but it was and still is a non-manufacturer engine. What about Judd and AER? In the past we've had Brian Hart and I'm sure if the manufacturers all left someone would build an engine. Nature abhors a vacuum so someone will fill it, and who knows the racing might be better. In my mind the manufacturers need F1, not the other way around.
The British Touring Car Championship provides an interesting counterpoint to Peter's argument. The series has commissioned an engine to be built to the new spec that is available to any team for about a quarter of the cost of building your own, which you can still do, so it is not a one make series. The BTCC has also been subject to manufacturers leaving the series, to the point where it is nearly all privateers, but the racing is just as good, the number of cars good and crowds are still coming to watch, so you see, there is more than one way to skin that cat, with apologies to Cfor, my cat.
Last, it comes as no surprise that Mr. Tilke is going to design the f1 track in Austin. It seems the Governor is putting up $25m a year which presumably goes some way to paying Bernie's fee. Still a long way from having it built, but the question remains, if it is private investors as reported, how do they expect to make the money back? No one has learned that trick lately. As Chris Pook told me in 1985 just after he had given up and switched to CART at Long Beach, "if Bernie thinks you are making money he will increase the price!"
Another USF1?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 10:55AM
The blog today can be about nothing else but the shock news that F1 is going to Austin, Texas, in 2012! I am not alone in asking, "show me the money." Did Tavo Hellmund, whoever he is, not read my blog from yesterday? How do you hope to make money on this when an established track is hoping to break even? It is very hard to see that either the City or State Governments are going to pony up for this.
Not that Austin is a bad spot, I am working on a track just down the road in San Antonio, and it is nice country, and Austin they tell me has some money. I see numbers of $2-300m to build the track, not from Mr. Hellmund, but would suggest this is way low if we are going to have something approaching the rest of the world. The contractor for the Yas Marina circuit told me that the track and infrastructure for it, not all the rest of the development, just the track, cost $1bn. A lot is being made of the fact that for the first time we will have a purpose built F1 track, but that discounts Watkins Glen, which for its day was no better or worse than the overseas tracks. If someone wanted to promote a State or City why would you not do a street track like Singapore, or Valencia, or Adelaide and Melbourne?
Let us hope that this is not another USF1, I am tired of being the laughing stock of the world when there is so much expertise here if only it were listened to and used properly. If you check out Tavo Hellmund's web site, and that of Full Throttle Productions, I am afraid they are a little underwhelming. One report says that Tavo has been a friend of Bernie's for thirty years, and just maybe Bernie is using Tavo as a front man, but unless he really is a good friend why would you choose someone with so little seeming credibility?
The one thing that says that this may be kosher is that Bernie has not come out and denied it. Is he playing one of his games and is using this to put pressure onto someone else to sign up? Or does he see a mug and is going to take his money and then take more when it does not eventuate, as he has done with Korea in the past? Only time will tell, as they say in the classics. I am sure there is a lot more of this story still to come.
As if we need reminding, the Turkish F1 GP is on this weekend at a purpose built F1 track that does not make money and never will.
Not that Austin is a bad spot, I am working on a track just down the road in San Antonio, and it is nice country, and Austin they tell me has some money. I see numbers of $2-300m to build the track, not from Mr. Hellmund, but would suggest this is way low if we are going to have something approaching the rest of the world. The contractor for the Yas Marina circuit told me that the track and infrastructure for it, not all the rest of the development, just the track, cost $1bn. A lot is being made of the fact that for the first time we will have a purpose built F1 track, but that discounts Watkins Glen, which for its day was no better or worse than the overseas tracks. If someone wanted to promote a State or City why would you not do a street track like Singapore, or Valencia, or Adelaide and Melbourne?
Let us hope that this is not another USF1, I am tired of being the laughing stock of the world when there is so much expertise here if only it were listened to and used properly. If you check out Tavo Hellmund's web site, and that of Full Throttle Productions, I am afraid they are a little underwhelming. One report says that Tavo has been a friend of Bernie's for thirty years, and just maybe Bernie is using Tavo as a front man, but unless he really is a good friend why would you choose someone with so little seeming credibility?
The one thing that says that this may be kosher is that Bernie has not come out and denied it. Is he playing one of his games and is using this to put pressure onto someone else to sign up? Or does he see a mug and is going to take his money and then take more when it does not eventuate, as he has done with Korea in the past? Only time will tell, as they say in the classics. I am sure there is a lot more of this story still to come.
As if we need reminding, the Turkish F1 GP is on this weekend at a purpose built F1 track that does not make money and never will.
Nothing new under the sun
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 10:29AM
I mentioned yesterday about the late arrival of my Autosport magazine. If you are an enthusiast and not reading Autosport and it's monthly companion, Motorsport, you are missing out on a lot of great information and interesting articles. This month's Motorsport has a few items that caught my eye. Although mainly a car magazine, it does have a very good page by Mat Oxley, rider and journalist. Mat is talking this month about how the really good riders are exploiting the electronic aids, and mentions rear wheel braking while accelerating to control wheelspin. This reminded me of one night in 1993 at a small dirt track in Lodi, Northern California, with Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey and a host of other stars, when we watched Kenny Jnr. and Kurtis learn their trade, including rear wheel braking accelerating out of corners.
Ina similar vein, but not from Motorsport, Eddie Oliver mentioned in a comment a couple of days ago that one reason riders can continue longer is the improved safety, including air bag leathers. Now I admit I have not kept up with motorcycle racing as much as I should, and I missed this development. It reminds me however of a day at Eastern Creek during the '91 GP when a 250 cc rider fell off in the very quick Turn 1, and the machine gyro'd for a long, long way, the run off being extensive. It finally hit the wall well past where it would normally be expected, so there were no straw bales. The rider complained about that because his bike was damaged, but I somewhat churlishly said,"well to be sure there were straw bales where it hit you would have had to tie one to the front of the bike." So, now to be sure there is air fence where you happen to fall off someone has worked out a way of doing just that, except for the rider not the bike.
Back to Motorsport for a moment, it was interesting to read a piece on the new Alfa Giuletta which has a 1.4 litre engine giving out 170 bhp and 50 mpg! Some trick computer controlled hydraulic valve actuation on an old engine was all it took, so who says the ICE is dead. As someone once said, they will always invent a better mousetrap. Let's hope that the Government does not invent a better "mouse" to keep Alfa from bringing this sort of technology to the US.
Also in the latest Autosport is a very good aerial shot of the new Silverstone Arena layout. Not sure I like it, but I guess we will see when the F1 and MotoGP races are run. The little kink on the exit to the new Abbey just looks like it will make the approach to the next corner a one line track, and the combination of hairpins looks a lot like the "Mickey" and "Mouse" pair of corners at the Indy F1 track. The exit of Abbey looks like the exit to the "Adelaide" hairpin at Magny Cours, which Kenny Roberts pointed out screwed the guy trying to come back at the person who had just overtaken them, or the little kink after the Turn 7 corner at Sebring that I am not proud to say I did, but with no choice.
Le Mans 24 Hours is coming up fast and I am sorry to say my plans to be there this year have had to be put on the back burner. Still, there is the TV, which presumably Speed Channel, aka NASCAR TV, will cut away to a truck race. So, be sure to go to the live feed which Speed will continue and does even through the night. I know some of you missed the ALMS at Laguna, be sure not to do it again.
Talking of Le Mans and ALMS, it seems the Jaguar is headed overseas to the Silverstone 1000km, a round of the LMS Series, and Le Mans. Now this car finished 46 laps down at Laguna and was about three seconds a lap off the pace, so why would Jaguar marketing let this car anywhere near a larger audience? "Murphy The Bear" says they are talking of putting the engine in a prototype! What as, ballast? It is inconceivable to me that a team of Paul Gentelozzi"s cannot get this car sorted. Tony Dowe where are you?
Last but not least, this headline should be printed in large letters and hung on the wall of every would-be F1 race promoter. "Hockenheim hopes to break even this year." Why, other that a sense of enormous ego, would you do all that work and take all that risk to HOPE to break even! And I bet that is after a Government bale out.
Ina similar vein, but not from Motorsport, Eddie Oliver mentioned in a comment a couple of days ago that one reason riders can continue longer is the improved safety, including air bag leathers. Now I admit I have not kept up with motorcycle racing as much as I should, and I missed this development. It reminds me however of a day at Eastern Creek during the '91 GP when a 250 cc rider fell off in the very quick Turn 1, and the machine gyro'd for a long, long way, the run off being extensive. It finally hit the wall well past where it would normally be expected, so there were no straw bales. The rider complained about that because his bike was damaged, but I somewhat churlishly said,"well to be sure there were straw bales where it hit you would have had to tie one to the front of the bike." So, now to be sure there is air fence where you happen to fall off someone has worked out a way of doing just that, except for the rider not the bike.
Back to Motorsport for a moment, it was interesting to read a piece on the new Alfa Giuletta which has a 1.4 litre engine giving out 170 bhp and 50 mpg! Some trick computer controlled hydraulic valve actuation on an old engine was all it took, so who says the ICE is dead. As someone once said, they will always invent a better mousetrap. Let's hope that the Government does not invent a better "mouse" to keep Alfa from bringing this sort of technology to the US.
Also in the latest Autosport is a very good aerial shot of the new Silverstone Arena layout. Not sure I like it, but I guess we will see when the F1 and MotoGP races are run. The little kink on the exit to the new Abbey just looks like it will make the approach to the next corner a one line track, and the combination of hairpins looks a lot like the "Mickey" and "Mouse" pair of corners at the Indy F1 track. The exit of Abbey looks like the exit to the "Adelaide" hairpin at Magny Cours, which Kenny Roberts pointed out screwed the guy trying to come back at the person who had just overtaken them, or the little kink after the Turn 7 corner at Sebring that I am not proud to say I did, but with no choice.
Le Mans 24 Hours is coming up fast and I am sorry to say my plans to be there this year have had to be put on the back burner. Still, there is the TV, which presumably Speed Channel, aka NASCAR TV, will cut away to a truck race. So, be sure to go to the live feed which Speed will continue and does even through the night. I know some of you missed the ALMS at Laguna, be sure not to do it again.
Talking of Le Mans and ALMS, it seems the Jaguar is headed overseas to the Silverstone 1000km, a round of the LMS Series, and Le Mans. Now this car finished 46 laps down at Laguna and was about three seconds a lap off the pace, so why would Jaguar marketing let this car anywhere near a larger audience? "Murphy The Bear" says they are talking of putting the engine in a prototype! What as, ballast? It is inconceivable to me that a team of Paul Gentelozzi"s cannot get this car sorted. Tony Dowe where are you?
Last but not least, this headline should be printed in large letters and hung on the wall of every would-be F1 race promoter. "Hockenheim hopes to break even this year." Why, other that a sense of enormous ego, would you do all that work and take all that risk to HOPE to break even! And I bet that is after a Government bale out.
Two Weeks
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 10:25AM
It does not seem possible that I have been doing this for two weeks now! I enjoy it and hope you do too. I want to thank Eddie Oliver for his informative comments. I know that among the other people reading this that there a lot of clever and knowledgeable individuals who can respond or add to my thoughts, so please feel free.
Not always been easy to find issues to write about. Something has to catch my attention, so in an endeavor to find it I have watched more of Indy than I have for a long time. I am no great fan of the modern era, but a couple of things struck me. Seeing Paul Tracy miss the cut did not bring a tear to my eye, not a fan, but why do companies like Geico sponsor a Paul Tracy when I would have thought there were better drivers and teams available? Perhaps they were looking for exposure in Canada, or just wanted to highlight their accident insurance?
What on earth is Bertrand Baguette doing in the Indy 500? last I heard he was racing in Europe and doing OK, did he take a wrong (left) turn and is his career now going around in circles?
Then there was the struggle of Tony Kanaan to qualify. Here is a guy who has led this race, always qualified in like the top six, and is now down to the last fifteen minutes on bump day to try and make the field in a car run by Andretti Autosport. It made for at least a few minutes of interest, but raises the question to me of how does that happen? The team has four cars, presumably very similar, and could draw on the set ups of the other drivers. I know drivers differ in what they like in a car, but come on, this is four corners all roughly the same, so how different can it be. And yes, I know someone will say the track changes etc, but how does a top team and driver get itself in this mess? Is it all a mind game after his two crashes?
Many years ago I had a dear friend who got behind on his reading. It was at the time of Nixon and he read Newsweek. He was six months behind, but doggedly refused to jump up to date and continued to read them in order. He said it was great to read what Nixon said six months ago and then go home from work and watch the six o'clock news about what was happening now. Thanks to the Icelandic volcano I have a similar situation. My weekly fix of motorsport news and views, Autosport, is now weeks late in getting to me here in the US. So it is fascinating to read the pre-race opinions of the experts and match it to the reality. They are not only wrong most of the time they are often way wide of the mark. It is interesting that there is no mention of any of that when the race report comes around. Bit like weathermen.
Not always been easy to find issues to write about. Something has to catch my attention, so in an endeavor to find it I have watched more of Indy than I have for a long time. I am no great fan of the modern era, but a couple of things struck me. Seeing Paul Tracy miss the cut did not bring a tear to my eye, not a fan, but why do companies like Geico sponsor a Paul Tracy when I would have thought there were better drivers and teams available? Perhaps they were looking for exposure in Canada, or just wanted to highlight their accident insurance?
What on earth is Bertrand Baguette doing in the Indy 500? last I heard he was racing in Europe and doing OK, did he take a wrong (left) turn and is his career now going around in circles?
Then there was the struggle of Tony Kanaan to qualify. Here is a guy who has led this race, always qualified in like the top six, and is now down to the last fifteen minutes on bump day to try and make the field in a car run by Andretti Autosport. It made for at least a few minutes of interest, but raises the question to me of how does that happen? The team has four cars, presumably very similar, and could draw on the set ups of the other drivers. I know drivers differ in what they like in a car, but come on, this is four corners all roughly the same, so how different can it be. And yes, I know someone will say the track changes etc, but how does a top team and driver get itself in this mess? Is it all a mind game after his two crashes?
Many years ago I had a dear friend who got behind on his reading. It was at the time of Nixon and he read Newsweek. He was six months behind, but doggedly refused to jump up to date and continued to read them in order. He said it was great to read what Nixon said six months ago and then go home from work and watch the six o'clock news about what was happening now. Thanks to the Icelandic volcano I have a similar situation. My weekly fix of motorsport news and views, Autosport, is now weeks late in getting to me here in the US. So it is fascinating to read the pre-race opinions of the experts and match it to the reality. They are not only wrong most of the time they are often way wide of the mark. It is interesting that there is no mention of any of that when the race report comes around. Bit like weathermen.