Northern Waffler Formula 1 Awards 2009

Hope everyone has had a great Christmas. But it is time to put on the slightly expensive clothing and look smart for the first annual, Northern Waffler Formula 1 Awards. Hosted live, here, at the lovely Croft Circuit. Well, we can pretend it is.

So what are these awards, well, they show the excellence and achievements of the season just gone. I call the specific awards, RG Bargies, named when F1 journalist Joe Saward commented on the name RG. It seems appropriate to use it for something else. So, lets get started.

Best Newcomer

Nominees: Sebastien Buemi, Kamui Kobayashi and Romain Grosjean

This wasn’t the greatest year for debutants, with Jaime Alguesuari the only other driver to have made his debut in F1 this season. I felt these three did the best of the four, so unfortunately for the Spaniard, he misses out. So the winner of the Best Newcomer goes to, Sebastien Buemi.

Buemi picked up five points in a less than impressive Toro Rosso alongside Sebastien Bourdias and Alguesuari. This included results which fell under the radar, a 8th in Abu Dhabi as well as a 7th in Australia, on his debut.

Kamui Kobayashi only had two races, and whilst showing his potential, didn’t have enough time to impress. Romain Grosjean was fairly crash prone and picked up no points.

Scandal of the Year

Nominees: Liegate (Lewis Hamilton and Dave Ryan), Breakaway Series (Everyone) and Singapore GP Race Fixing (Nelson Piquet jr, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds)

Debutants had a bad year, scandals had a brilliant one. Every other week there was a new thing to spread across the back pages, but only one can be the biggest scandal of 2009. It goes to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix Race Fixing.

We all know what happened, Nelson Piquet jr crashed just as Fernando Alonso had pitted. Alonso went on to win the race. But this wins as the scale of it, the fact that someone had cheated to win a race. Caused danger to other drivers, marshals and spectators by crashing. This just about clinches it.

Heart in Mouth Moment of the Year

Nominees: Felipe Massa’s crash in Hungary, Timo Glock’s crash in Japan and the last 3 laps of the Japanese Grand Prix.

It was a thrilling year, in some ways not the way in which it intended. Serious accidents at times marred the racing. So the Heart in the Mouth Moment goes to the Felipe Massa crash during qualification of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The whole event was nerve-wracking, how bad were the injuries, would he survive? Thankfully, he did. Though a week after the death of Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees was not the ideal time for it to happen.

The ‘Rolex’ Time Waster Award

Nominees: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Malaysian Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying.

Time is precious. Sadly some of the races ruined this precious time. Time which can not be returned and sadly, will likely be wasted again in the future. So not a big thank you to the Malaysian Grand Prix for winning this award.

One whole hour of waiting. Staring at a bunch of cars littered on the main straight, with mechanics around it and drivers chatting hiding under the immense monsoon rain. It could have been called off earlier, but, in true Formula 1 fashion. It dragged on until the final call came and half points were awarded.

At least there was an overtake in the entire one and a half hours of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In Brazil, there was something at the end of the needless waiting.

Howler of the Year

Nominees: Jaime Alguesuari driving into the Red Bull pit box, Ferrari bringing in Luca Badoer and the new 2009 Rules and Regulations.

As a goalkeeper, I know when someone has made a downright fool of themselves by doing something daft. So after a whole season of awful races, the award finds itself in the hands of the Overtaking Working Group for the new regulations.

Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Turkey, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Valencia, Singapore, Japan and Abu Dhabi. All these races partially suffered due to these regulations (also due to some of them being designed by Hermann Tilke, but that is for another time). That is a grand total of 11 races. Well done.

Race of the Year

Nominees: Chinese Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix

There weren’t that many stand out races this season. But with the amount of dull and tedious ones, the good races really shone. But one shone that little bit brighter, and that was the Brazilian Grand Prix.

It had everything, overtaking, crashes, fire in the pitlane, excitement, fights, the lot of it. Brilliant, title deciding stunning drive from Jenson Button. Another solid win by Mark Webber. Robert Kubica’s only podium of the season. Kamui Kobayashi, doing what Kobayashi does. Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil at wars. Brilliant stuff.

Underrated Driver of the Year

Nominees: Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg and Sebastien Buemi

This season had two distinct categories for drivers. Jobs well done and Must do better. To say someone was underrated was very hard, and to come up with 3 was especially difficult. However the winner is Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg carried Williams, had it not been for him the team would have been down with Toro Rosso. Kazuki Nakajima just didn’t make the grade in 2009 and it was down to Nico Rosberg to save the show. A grand total of 34.5 points included no podiums, there were no wins. He sure blew the best chance of a podium in Singapore with a silly error, but still had some excellent fourth places to his name, especially in the middle part of the season.

Team of the Year

Nominees: Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Force India

One time flew ahead of everyone else, just one team attempted to scrape claws and try to hold on. But Brawn GP were unstoppable, especially in the first part of the season.

6 wins in the first 7 races, another 2 later on by Rubens Barrichello. It was a great year for Brawn in the only season that they will compete in. Despite a poor turn in the latter stages of 2009, they held strong and still kept up with solid drives. They certainly deserved this award.

Drive of the Year

Nominees: Jenson Button at Monaco, Giancarlo Fisichella at Spa-Francorchamps and Jenson Button at Interlagos.

To say the least, we were all shocked when Giancarlo Fisichella put his plucky Force India on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix. We remained shocked when he finished second on the Sunday.

Everyone expected cars to fly past the Force India at ease, it never happened. We expected Kimi Raikkonen to fly ahead of Fisichella, it never happened. In fact, if it wasn’t for the chaos involving Romain Grosjean, Jaime Alguesuari, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, he might have even won the whole race.

Driver of the Year

Nominees: Jenson Button, Sebastien Vettel and Lewis Hamilton

The big award, driver of the year. The driver who put his all in everything and it showed. So the first RG Bargy Driver of the Year Award is presented to Sebastien Vettel.

He showed class in helping Red Bull get there first win in China, with follow up wins at Silverstone and Abu Dhabi. He had a small chance of the title and gave the Brawn pair a run for their money, finishing second in the Championship. Despite a few errors, he came through them all.

Everything is Average Nowadays

Left in the dark. The room is silent, a lone figure standing. He is confused, lost, unsure about his own future. The future is dim, clouded in uncertainty. This is how a optimistic, new start for 2010 went down the drain. This is how Robert Kubica may not be having the most fun Christmas time.

It was a jump down the year before, 2008 was glorious, the win in Montreal, the pole in Bahrain. BMW flew before a single shot in the wing saw them slam to the ground. Spectacularly. One podium, just a solitary podium in 2009, a shadowed drive in the Interlagos sun, the day Jenson Button became World Champion. Kubica was forgotten.

The career which started back in mid-2006, disqualification from his first race in Hungary. But by his second race in Monza, he had shown immense potential, a glorious third place finish, to complete a podium featuring Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. Talent was shown right from the off.

2007 showed no podiums, but there was still an inkling of what he could do. After the horrific crash in Canada, he bounced back with an incredible 4th in France. A stunning drive which earned him much praise. No podiums, but the best had yet to come.

Straight from the off, 2008 was expected to be awesome. A mistake away from pole in Australia. And then Bahrain, not a single person expected him to do it, everyone thought it was going to be a Felipe Massa walkover. It was the first ever BMW pole. The internet went made with ‘Pole4Pole’ and everything seemed crazy. Then came the crazier Canadian Grand Prix, the first win. His only win.

2009 started promising, a vague chance for a win in Australia before Vettel and the wall put pay to the idea. Then came the spell where nothing happened, the struggle to get points. The solitary glory of Brazil before bowing out on his BMW career in a lonely 10th in Abu Dhabi.

Renault had already come calling by this point. Post Japan he was announced as the number 1 driver, a promising prospect.

And then it all fell apart when Renault hosted meeting about uncertain futures after Toyota pulled out of the sport.

Renault were sold earlier in the month to Genii Capital, a Luxembourg based investment firm. Robert Kubica has since said he is unsure whether or not to stay in the team, he doesn’t know any of the conditions of the contract, its a bad time to be a Renault driver. The only Renault driver is Kubica.

Kubica is certainly worthy of a top race seat, but the only one on offer at the moment if he doesn’t go on with the under new management Renault team is Mercedes. Which, does have a bit of queue before it. Michael Schumacher is of course favourite for it, bar the recurring neck injury striking again in the medical tests. Second in line is rather ironic, former team mate to Kubica for two and a half seasons, Nick Heidfeld.

Aside from Mercedes, there is only the option of one of the new teams. Certainly something which is well below his capability. Although it might be an area for a new challenge, such as Timo Glock going to Virgin Racing. Robert Kubica must be looking at something which will be able to win the championship. That is not going to be what the likes of Campos Meta will be able to offer him.

There is the midtable option of the Sauber team. Which makes a lot of sense of going from moaning all season about BMW Sauber, to moving to Renault, before moving to Sauber for 2010. Yet it is more competitive.

Renault may still be the only choice that Kubica will opt to stick with, and despite the fact that he knows no details of the deal, it will make much more sense than moving anywhere else. Renault will have a car that will at least be more competitive, more or less a midfield team based on this years performance and all of the new teams entering the sport.

But I would give Robert Kubica a chance at a better team. This might not happen for a few years (or it could happen at the end of 2010 depending on how the Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button relationship goes at McLaren). Kubica has proved he can win races and be very good in a consistant car, even has been an outsider in a Championship battle.

Yet what anything Kubica does for 2010, its not going to be for the wins. A few podiums with any sort of luck. Its not been an ideal scenario for Robert Kubica, if anything, the situation is only going to get more complex in the near future.

There Is a God And They Call Him Michael Dawson

I’m not easily impressed. I’ll easily slate off a performance of a team, quite possibly if it is of my own Tottenham Hotspur. The fairly easy surrender of a two goal lead was not ideal at all against Everton, but these things happen. Sweep it under a rug and just get back to the job by beating Wolves at home the following week.

But there has been one person standing out head and shoulders above the rest of them. Impressively, it is not Niko Kranjcar who I have been praising like he is the one to help get this club into the top. He has been brilliant, but not as impressive as Michael Dawson.

Spurs signed Dawson from Nottingham Forest as part of a £8 million deal along with Andy Reid. Reid was expected to be the better player.

Turns out the money was well spent on Michael Dawson. He was one of the scorers on the now famous evening of November 5th 2006. The day we finally beat Chelsea, of course partnering the goal in which Aaron Lennon placed it past the helpless Petr Cech. Great times.

These days he has been alongside Sebastian Bassong in the heart of the Tottenham defence. He probably wouldn’t be even in the side if Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate weren’t both injured. Again. But this time he is being allowed to captain the side, Robbie Keane isn’t starting (not sure what is going on there), it is an ideal opportunity for Dawson to prove his worth and make sure he is in that starting 11 week in, week out.

And I will tell you, he sure is proving his worth.

We’ll start at the obvious, the man has scored two goals in two Premier League games. A rather fantastic half volley from the edge of the box against Aston Villa, which was accompanied by a lovely diving header against Everton. Two goals, from corners, where he worked his way to be allowed to get a shot off against.

But it is not just that, he is getting himself stuck in. Some immense tackles he has produced. Fair enough, sometimes he has gone in a bit too hard on players. For example, a rather rash tackle on the Everton player which earned him a yellow card was perhaps not necessary.

But compared to the incompetence of Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the game, it seemed committed. And committed is what I have come to expect from Dawson. He is one of the few players who seems to be proud of wearing the white (and yellow) of Tottenham. He wants to play for the club, and for that I love him. Only a select few I think do deserve that credit along with Dawson.

Dawson isn’t nearly as credited with enough praise as the likes of Modric, Defoe or Lennon. Maybe it is because of our seemingly incapability of keeping a clean sheet (last one was the 5-0 win against Burnley). He may get a bit over committed in things. But I like that, we don’t have nearly enough of those players in the team with the obvious exception of Wilson Palacios. I love Michael Dawson as a player, he needs to stay in that Spurs defence.

I may even push it and suggest, Dawson for England?

Sweet Dreams Are Made of These

It can never be easy being a fan of a sporting team. Be it football, Formula 1 or rugby. There is always drama and tension surrounding that team. There is always a good question to be asked, why support a team in the first place? It is not an easy job by any means, even if you are passionate for them.

Take Harlequins F.C, a rugby union team, things seemed to be going sweetly for them. A good showing in the Guiness Premiership and an impressive outing in the Heineken Cup as well. Then, out of the blue it seems, “bloodgate” happened. The Summer was spent with the name on the back page, grabbing the headlines. The hot topic, replacing even Formula 1 as having big controversies. Fines, bans and warnings followed for Harlequins. But looking at it from the point of view of a fan of the team, it can only be of a nightmare. Worrying the team might be banned from a prestigious European cup competition. It would only have been a nightmare, a whole summer ruined out of worry.

Not without the worry, there is always that additional rollercoaster you don’t want to take. It is compulsory to suffer this as a fan and it has happened to anyone and everyone who supports a team. Newcastle United for example have had to suffer managerial changes, awful ownership, relegation and combated all three with protests. Honda F1 fans, saw the team pull out, saw months of speculation before Ross Brawn went on and saved the day. We all know what happened from there.

But there is a personal rollercoaster I have suffered lately and I start the tale of sadness, illness, mystery and joy at a relatively mild July day.

I’m lying in bed, ill, down with the flu. Already a bad start to the day, I’ve been out of the loop for about a week thanks to this. So when the news echoed out on Sky Sports News that BMW Sauber were pulling out, it came as a shock. I hadn’t heard of press conferences, or any rumours about this. Stuck in bed, braced with the news, I just about began to get the positive thoughts, there is still time for a buyer. Things might improve and BMW will reverse the decision. It didn’t seem to be too bad.

The disaster was soon overshadowed by the sudden reappearance of a Mr. Michael Schumacher. The news hogged his image, ignoring the plight of BMW Sauber. The ‘seven time world champion’ was returning to the sport. The sudden disappearance of him lowered the attention, a white sheet had been covered in front of BMW with Schumacher standing in front. The sheet had done its job, headlines returned to football. The laughing at Liverpool and cheering at the cricket.

Time meandered on, nothing happened. Words were spoken, Mario Theissen confident of a buyer, as was Peter Sauber. But nothing was going on, races were completed. Better results came in Valencia, Spa and Monza. Still nothing.

14th September 2009 was a bad day. Imagine if the initial entry on the rollercoaster was skimming the grass on the surface, this managed to make the rollercoaster go underground. The Malaysian backed Lotus team were confirmed as the new 13th team, replacing the outgoing BMW Sauber team as they became the 14th team. This was awful, needing the requirement of the misfortune of others just to get a slot. The team hadn’t even been bought out yet. It was dark times, optimism at an all time low.

Five minutes later, BMW were bought out by the QADBAK group. Nobody knew who they are, the only connection people could figure was with the football team of Notts County. Mystery. Question marks now surrounded the team, even the thought of anger heading towards BMW for seemingly selling the team for the first company that brought them money. From that day it never looked like the team would make the grid. It was bleak.

The end of the season came and went, Jenson Button crowned World Champion. Brawn became heroes in Brazil where Robert Kubica would score BMW’s last podium in Formula 1. The team quietly exited the sport during the dull Abu Dhabi race. Nick Heidfeld finished in 5th, marking the end of the four year BMW Sauber team. It was a sad moment. Looking increasingly likely that there would be nobody to support the following season.

BMW Sauber scored 308 points in just 70 races, including 1 pole position and of course, 1 win at the never forgotten 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. The team had only ever used four drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Jaques Villeneuve starting in 2006. Villeneuve was out by Hungary to be replaced by the first ever Pole in the sport, Robert Kubica. Kubica was replaced by Sebastian Vettel for one race at the 2007 US Grand Prix, a week after Kubica’s horrific accident in Canada.

It made me reflect on all the good times as a fan of BMW Sauber. The pole position lap at Bahrain in 2008, where everyone expected Felipe Massa to walk it. Out of a blue a little white car stormed across the line with a big red ‘1’ next to the time.

And there is that special grand prix that I will always remember, the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Forget the stupid pitlane antics by Lewis Hamilton, it was awesome to see Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld come home in a one-two finish to win the race. It was a fantastic feeling. Brilliant. Unforgettable.

Times like that never seemed to not ever happen again. But suddenly, the rollercoaster decided to come back from the underground. Days after the Abu Dhabi GP, Toyota pulled out. 12 teams remained. It seemed almost certain QADBAK-Sauber would be in the sport the following season.

But, things are never that simple. Toyota had signed the Concorde Agreement, BMW didn’t. It was looking a costly mistake as it looked possible that Toyota would sell their entry off to someone, that someone looking like Zoran Stefanovic and his Serbian based Stefan GP outfit. The ride had suddenly become a little bumpy.

Peter Sauber emerged in the frame, with the QADBAK deal looking less and less likely to go through. He bought the remaining 80% from BMW subject to if the team got on the grid.

A week later, that happened. A mix of thrill and joy and happiness is going on right now as I write this post. It is great to have my team, the team that got me in all of this back in F1. Sauber. Ran by Peter Sauber, the legend that he is. Ferrari powered engines, I can not wait for 2010 now!

I’m being asked who will drive for the team, I do think it will be Christian Klien and Vitaly Petrov, with Nick Heidfeld making the move to Mercedes. Though saying that, I have been wrong about many things in the past. Brawn GP just one of them.

And that concludes the rollercoaster of being a BMW Sauber fan, or at least, a fan. It is never easy, not always fun. But there is a passion that keeps you supporting them from Day 1 to the end. I could have easily given up when the team were struggling for points at the British Grand Prix, but why would I want to do that? There is nothing for me if I did that. I’d lose a team. I nearly lost them, but look, Sauber came out of the woodwork. And it is the best news ever.

Highest Step

Feet up. Season is done. Life is good. Well, unless you are BMW or Toyota. 2009 is on the verge of being swept under the carpet well before the 2010 party rocks the house, but the brush is being stopped short as the many, many seasonal reviews begin to take shape and be spread on the internet, in magazines and on our own television screens, they take up our time, they offer us the same views, but we will all still read and watch them.

I’m afraid to say, season review haters, this blog will become one of those. Just less regular. And also quite possibly less knowledgeable. Irregular works best, just as Toyota.

So why am I wasting up potential internet space today then? Look back at the F1 season, every one talks about the drivers and the teams, who did awesome, who did less than awesome and then conveniently forget the teams who did alright. But I am looking at the Team boss. Which man has stood out ahead of the rest.

I’ll be honest, judging by driver decisions, Stefano Domenicalli isn’t going to get it. I can’t really be biased either, sadly Mario Theissen has also not been helped with that car.

I have seen all the races and I have found one person to just be more enjoyable than the others. He had two very good drivers, been very consistant throughout the whole season and quite possibly, has had more shots of his leg than his face…

Well done to Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing.

He has managed to get that car to the top, and kept it at the top. The only thing letting him down this season was sadly the poor reliability of those cars. At the start of the season, the team were the only ones who could keep up to Brawn at the start, then managed to overtake them in style in Britain. The team won a grand total of 6 races, just two shy of Brawn’s 8 wins.

I have found the running of the team to be really great, secretly, have been a fan for a few years. He’s brought some good success to the team and has managed to keep one of the best drivers on the grid for 2010.

It may come as a surprise to some that my award is not going to a certain Ross Brawn, but I have my reasons. Despite the awesome start, his team stuttered across the finish line with low point finishes (exception of Rubens Barrichello’s two wins in Valencia and Monza). A team boss would want his drivers to be going for more podiums, for that they did not get.

And while we are at it, more praise for team principals please, the little coverage they get in terms in media is not deserved. They do a fine job, it can pay off big style as well.

I may lie about one thing above, I fear it may become regular. I blame ‘Thursday Thoughts’ by Sidepodcast, the inspiration of these posts and any upcoming on Thursdays unless otherwise stated.

Qualifying World Championship

The race weekend. Three practice sessions, a qualifying session and of course the race. Everyone looks forward to the race, that is where the big things happens, the controversial incidents, the exciting overtakes. Except this season has seen a bit of a role reversal, its been qualifying that has shown exciting last second drama, massive shunts and the controversial incidents.

So, after hearing a possible suggestion on a Sidepodcast show, I began wondering who is the best qualifier on the grid? Who is the World Champion of Qualifying?

To start off I need a points structure and obviously I need something which will favour the person who got pole position. I went for the following scheme.

1	20 points
2	15
3	13
4	10
5	8
6	7
7	6
8	5
9	4
10	3
Q2	1 (Knocked out in Q2)
Q1	0 (Knocked out in Q1

*Will not be counting penalties as I’m looking at the times.

So who are you putting your bets on? I was thinking Barrichello, he’s been consistant in the top 10 all season. So, here are the simplified results.

		Total
1	Vettel	203
2	Barrichello	179
3	Button	162
4	Webber	127
5	Trulli	115
6	Hamilton	107
7	Raikkonen	93
8	Alonso	85
9	Rosberg	84
10	Kovalainen	59
11	Glock	59
12	Sutil	48
13	Massa	45
14	Kubica	45
15	Heidfeld	35
16	Nakajima	27
17	Fisichella	22
18	Buemi	18
19	Piquet jr	8
20	Liuzzi	7
21	Grosjean	3
22	Bourdais	2
23	Alguesuari	2
24	Kobayashi	1
25	Badoer	0

You can view the full table and standings here.

So Vettel is the qualifying king. It does explain why he hardly ever overtakes and why his net rate goes down after qualifying and during the race. There were also a few surprises. Sutil is high up as is Rosberg. It is also what we expected from Trulli, possibly the best qualifier out there.

You may be wondering why I debuted the championship with one race to go, well, Vettel has clearly won it and it would be pointless not to show that.

What I’d quite like to know from the comments is anyway I could improve this for next season. Should I change the points structure? I’m pretty sure there is improvement, I’d just like to know what to do with it.

Waiting, Waiting…

The post below may contain some spoilers of today’s qualifying. So if you haven’t seen it yet, I would: a) not read the following post and b) Skip the red flags.

I sit down in my chair, laptop to one side of me, Diet Coke on the other and looking forward to yet another exciting and delightful qualification session on the BBC. I was fully aware that it was going to be wet, having watched 47 minutes of nothing during the final free practice session earlier in the day. But nothing prepared me for the endless, or at least seemingly endless session.

I originally had two options, one was the F1, the other was the Speedway Grand Prix from Poland, championship decider much like it could be in F1 come Abu Dhabi. I opted for the F1, in the idea that I could see the Speedway later on Sky+, since Sky Player is currently not my friend at the moment so to speak. What a mistake.

Qualifying started optimistically, well, for about five whole minutes. Giancarlo Fisichella caught out in the treacherous conditions at the Senna S. Red flag, it looked like a short one as the car was rather quickly craned out of harms way. Then the first killer blow, delayed until the conditions improved. Although it wasn’t too long, it was still highly annoying as it paused qualifying for a bit. But by half past six it was completed and Q2 could get under way.

But, it is never that simple and it was once again delayed before the green flag could be waved. Thirty minutes passed on by as nothing happened but the hope for the improvement of conditions. Which in reality never arrived and it came to no surprise that two minutes later, Vitantonio Liuzzi was going into turn one the wrong way before slamming it into a wall. More delays.

And by more delays, this one was a horrendously, pain staking long one. One hour of nothing going on the track bar the seemingly restless medical driver driven by Alan van der Merwe, who possibly did the most laps out of any car. During this time, I gave up on the BBC coverage, as they switched from BBC1 to BBC2. So on came Harry Hill’s TV Burp, which cheered me up, as well as my tea for the night, pizza to be precise and I opted to take my time with it. Well, the F1 wasn’t going to be on soon was it.

But, at the turn of the hour the FIA gave everyone some good news, just ten more minutes until the return of cars going round in circles. I would not have given it an extra ten minutes though, as the waiting was simply driving me crazy (pun not intended).

So Q2 restarted, a decent session. A big shock with Button failing, didn’t make up for one hour and ten minutes of waiting.

As usual, Q3 was the showpiece, with I’m pretty sure every single driver in the session at one point topping the time sheets. I loved it, the Webber, Barrichello and Rosberg battle for the top nearer the end was simply awesome. I won’t lie, I loved it. Even felt that BMW driver Robert Kubica could do a turn up for the books and grab pole. Alas, that wasn’t going to happen.

But it didn’t make up for anything. I enjoyed ten minutes of an event. Ten minutes. Just that. Considering the whole event lasted for two hours and forty-one minutes, its simply leaves two hours and thirty-one minutes of dullness. Continuing on with the maths, considering Q1 lasts twenty minutes and Q2 lasts fifteen minutes, during qualifying there was a whole one hour and fifty-six minutes of nothing. Don’t get me wrong, that is way too long.

How can you improve it? Well it was obvious that after Q1 conditions were not going to improve for a while and I believe that Q2 should not even have started. Instead I believe qualifying should have been called off for the day, with Q2 and Q3 resuming on Sunday morning. Makes logical sense, would only take forty-five minutes to do it, if not less. So wouldn’t take that long.

But there is possible consequences of doing this, the main one is scheduling. From 9:05 to 11:10 (Brazil time), there is a succession of Support Races (Formula 3, Porsche Cup Light and Porsche Supercup). So a chance of F1 qualification in that period is not possible. There is a half an hour gap filled by Track Vehicle Displays, until a VIP Charity Drive. I do not have an idea what this is, but I have a suspect idea that it being VIP’s and for Charity, it is not going to be budged all that easily. But maybe if push came to shove, that could easily be moved out of the window.

Yet the times for Q1 had already been set so that if the even was postponed, the times from that would have carried on. But it is a ridiculous rule and scary as it is to say this, I agree with the FIA and the men in charge of the even of waiting for a clearance in the weather. There is nothing that can be done with the rules available.

But in these circumstances, I have to say well done to the BBC F1 team for what was excellent coverage after having to fill in for so long. They managed to find people to interview and managed to continue to tick it over during the long waiting period.

The FIA need to adjust the rules in case something like this happens again, or once again, F1 fans could be left waiting and waiting and waiting for another few hours of our life. I’ll be honest, the speedway would have been a better option.

Stuck In A Series You Can’t Get Out Of

Uphall is a typical Scottish village, just fourteen kilometres out of the capital, Edinburgh. There is nothing spectacular about Uphall, the village websites lists upcoming events that would normally be associated with a rural British village, playgroups, traditional dance classes and of course, Bingo at the Bowling Club. But there is one thing from Uphall that raised quite a few eyebrows.

Despite Paul di Resta currently racing in the German Touring Car Series, DTM, he was racing at his home circuit of sorts, Brands Hatch, on the first weekend of September. The Brit won the race, ahead of Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk and a certain Gary Paffett. But that has been the problem for di Resta, at the moment, the only racing series he seems to be able to race in at the moment is the DTM.

It is strange to be concerned over a driver who is only 23, someone who has between ten to fifteen years left in him, possibly even more. But di Resta has struggled to make the step from the lower series into the hallowed fame of Formula 1, with several opportunities in the past few years going begging.

Paul di Resta began his single seat career in the UK Formula Renault in 2003, finishing a respectable 7th in his debut year, which included a win at Oulton Park. The grid that year also happened to include a young Lewis Hamilton as well as another 2009 DTM driver, Susie Stoddart. 2004 was a significant improvement, finishing 3rd, with a double win at Brands Hatch to top it all off. His team Manor Motorsports were clearly impressed, he was promoted to a Formula 3 Euroseries drive for the following year.

However, the season was not to plan, only finishing tenth and with it three disqualifications for various reasons (unfortunately, I am unable to find out what the reasons were). Yet, looking back four years later, who would be the one to complain when that top 10 also compiled the names of three current F1 drivers, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel, as well as three current GP2 drivers Lucas di Grassi, Franck Perera and Giedo van der Garde. But, naturally, in 2006, he decided the best thing to do was to win the whole thing. And despite not being as dominant as Lewis Hamilton in the previous season, he finished a comfortable eleven points ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Yes, Vettel, current three time F1 race winner, and also well ahead of a few names you may recognise, Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Romain Grosjean.

Impressive it seems, so DTM came knocking, with Mercedes snapping him up and originally putting him in the two year old car along with Susie Stoddart and Greek driver, Alexandros Margaritis. Naturally, you’d expect him to be at the back. Not in this case, he finished the championship 5th, with four podiums.  For 2008, he was put in the most up to date Mercedes, he finished second to Timo Scheider, taking the battle right down to the last race at Hockenheim. So far in 2009 (last race was at Brands Hatch), he lies in 4th with having an average season till the win at Brands Hatch. Will it be the kick for him to win the DTM.

Will it be the kick for him to be in Formula 1?

Lets begin by thinking logically, Paul di Resta currently drives for Mercedes in the DTM and therefore has a contract with them. If he were to obey that, there are several options for di Resta. Assuming McLaren will be opting to go for the more experienced racing drivers, Raikkonen, Rosberg so on. Won’t go into that here however. Aside from McLaren, two other teams are supplied from Mercedes engines, Force India and Brawn GP. If we look closer at the detail, recent reports have revealed Mercedes may be buying a controlling share into the current championship leaders Brawn GP. And with Rubens Barrichello looking likely to be on his way out, either to another team or into retirement, it would seem ideal for di Resta to make his move into F1. However, the only catch is that the team are most likely to want more proven drivers due to the strong chance of them winning the Constructors Championship.

Force India seems to be a weaker bet of the two options, with no rumours of either Adrian Sutil or Vitantonio Liuzzi leaving the outfit for 2010. Therefore it would be unlikely that he would end up at the team.

Option number three is as a reserve driver at any of those teams. However, these days, being one of those has its massive downside. You best be in another series or you will find yourself doing nothing for an entire season unless someone is underperforming or gets injured in the race team. This would most likely see di Resta remain in DTM, and like Gary Paffett, seem to be linked around, but never get anywhere.

But the final thought is also the strongest one. One of the new teams in Formula 1 for 2010 is Manor Motorsports. Earlier on when going through di Resta’s career to date, you may recall me mentioning that team. He was with them for several years in his early career, that means he will be well known within the team and he knows the team well himself. The team have supported him throughout his career, this is an ideal opportunity for di Resta.

But does he deserve Formula 1 though, for all he has currently shown he is good in Touring Cars for the past few years?

Paul di Resta, has to be fair, done little to none single seater work since his move to DTM in 2007. He could defiantly be awfully rusty when being put inside something significantly faster than a Mercedes in the DTM. But in theory, it should make no difference, what you have learnt should not have gone in three years. It still may take testing to go from rusty to excellence once again.

There is a thing that worries me, is past drivers with deals with Mercedes who have gone nowhere. To name two, Gary Paffett and Mike Conway. Both, not so long ago, linked to drives in Formula 1, even linked with drives at McLaren before Lewis Hamilton came along. Now, Paffett is struggling as the reserve driver at McLaren along with Pedro de la Rosa and Mike Conway is driving in America in the IRL. Both drivers had potential, but never made it. The same could happen to Paul di Resta.

That would be a terrible shame, for not just di Resta or his small home village of Uphall, even Britain in general. Formula 1 may have lost the opportunity to have one fine driver in their ranks.

That Little Piece of Magic

The new season, finally, is upon us. And after months of talking non-stop about F1, I can finally start to waffle a bit more on the beautiful sport everyone likes to call football. And despite the Football League season starting on Friday night, with a rather drab 0-0 draw between Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, the main showpiece event begins on Saturday, the new Premier League season.

As usual, I have to get up and look forward to watching Tottenham Hotspur play, which in the last two seasons hasn’t really been that enjoyable to watch the first few months. I’m sure, everyone who isn’t a Spurs fan is probably aware of that as well. To be fair, our opening games of the season usually tend to be in the favour of the opposition, with Spurs’ last opening day win coming against Portsmouth in the glorious 2005/2006 season. A 2-0 win with goals scored by Andy Griffin (own goal) and Jermain Defoe. The record though still is quite inconsistent since the start of the Premier League, I’ll let the stats explain themselves:

Played: 17 Won: 6 Drew: 5 Lost: 6 Goals For: 19 Goals Against: 19 Points: 23/51

Very inconsistent. Though if there are any hopes to go by, the last time Spurs played Liverpool on the opening day (2004) it ended in a 1-1 draw. So there is some hope as always.

But the season is more than just one fixture that just so happens to kick of the proceedings. The season is 38 games long, and despite one killer month in April with consecutive games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, my worry is Spurs will once again be complacent against the likes of Blackburn and Burnley this season, and lose games in which they should win.

These games should be won especially with some of the captures of Peter Crouch and the promising Kyle Naughton. Who I reckon will be an absolute star of the future. But apart from them two and Sebastien Bassong, bought from the crisis club that can only be Newcastle United, there has been very little activity by Harry Redknapp. Despite the fact Spurs have been linked with half the Real Madrid squad, including Klaas Jan Huntelaar who eventually went to AC Milan, there also hasn’t been that much rumours by the press either. Which I believe has been passed onto Manchester City, and them probably buying the whole league. Thankfully, at least the people we have sold we have good cover for them. The most famous sale of course being Darren Bent, including the twitter saga and the lot. In reality, despite him being our top scorer in the last two seasons, he was still probably our fifth best striker there and would easily fill in some simple boots up at Sunderland. Didier Zokora was being pushed out of the team, despite him being quite popular at the club, yet the Ivory Coast player will be gutted with a grand total of 0 goals at Spurs. There must be good odds on him scoring a goal on his debut at Sevilla. The only departure I am gutted about is the loss of Chris Gunter, who I really like as a player and began to show some good stuff at the end of last season and in the Carling Cup. However, with Assou-Ekotto impressing and the return of Gareth Bale in the autumn, he would have probably ended up out on loan anyway.

But Gareth Bale does show the one key problem with Spurs at the moment, the amount of injuries in the defence. The big important centre backs of Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson are all out of the opening game. Thankfully, Sebastien Bassong will not be suspended for the start of the season, otherwise Liverpool would have an easy task to get past the Spurs back line. There will be shuffling of course, Bassong most likely to be partnered by Vedran Corluka with Pascal Chimbonda moving into the right back slot. Or the possibility of Kyle Naughton at right back, but I am unsure whether Redknapp will be willing to play the 20 year old straight away.

The player I am most excited about for the new season is Wilson Palacios, the Honduran international who has the chance of even playing at the World Cup at the end of the year, as Honduras are currently lying third in their group of 6 with the top three going into the World Cup automatically and the fourth place team playing the fifth place team from South America. Palacios will surely be buoyed by the chance and want to impress to get into the World Cup, which for a team like Honduras might not happen every single four years.

Also, the partnership between new signing Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe will defiantly be exciting. The two have shown at Portsmouth, under Harry Redknapp, what they are capable of when they work together. The two scored bucket loads at Portsmouth, and it will most likely again to continue at Tottenham. My only concern is that there are two other strikers, Roman Pavlychenko and the captain, Robbie Keane. With that, the time for Crouch and Defoe to be on together will probably be fewer than ideal.

I know pre-season form shouldn’t really be credited in anything. Last year we had a fantastic pre-season and we all know what happened next. This year, has been a bit more dodgy. A few defeats included against Celtic and South China. Yet the young boys still showed some spirit against Barcelona, with Jake Livermore (now on loan to Derby County) scoring the equaliser. One of the few players that seemed to make an impact. But, the last game was a comfortable win over Greek giants Olympiakos, a 3-0 win, goals coming from Pavlychenko, Corluka and Defoe. If that game is anything to go by, and the one that should be examined the most as it the game before the season begins where all the players should be up for it and it shows they were. Lots of chances were being created, however one concern, especially in the first half was the inability to convert those chances. Which could end up costing the team against the big sides since the opportunities will be rare.

My hopes for the 2009/2010 season is to get back into Europe. I believe that it is ridiculous to suggest we will get into the Champions League, we don’t have that extra yard to put in to get there. However, the chance to get into the Europa League (as much as I despise it) is always good. With the added presence of Manchester City into the fight for the Champions League (I believe I am the one of many really wishing they fail brilliantly), there will be two spaces left (assuming that two big 4 sides win the Carling Cup and the FA Cup). These spaces will be heavily contested for, Aston Villa, Everton the obvious candidates, but you can’t discount Fulham again either. I don’t believe there are many other sides that can challenge, it is between 9 sides this year for Europe, and I do believe one of them is Tottenham.

Since I like to make predictions. I’ll do some Spurs related ones here. Top Scorer will be Jermain Defoe. Gomes will be gone back to the continent before the start of next season, as much as I don’t think that will be good. Though could be time for Ben Alnwick to step up. We’ll have a little slump during the Christmas period, there are some games in there that could catch Spurs out. Finally, we will finally beat Arsenal in the league this season. This is that year, no more last minute comebacks, it will be last minute winners.

If we do end up having one awful start to the season again, I really hope they don’t sack Harry Redknapp. Just saying that early on, it doesn’t feel right not having a mid-season crisis. 

My Top 5 F1 Liveries

If you know me well, you know I like my liveries. And you will probably also know, I hate white cars. I’m not even using BMW as an exception here, I find the car bland, dull and unimaginative. I love original cars, and you will probably find that out later on. Before I start, this post was inspired by Lukeh at the brilliant Thoughts of a Trying Atheist blog. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend that you do. Well, here goes.

5: Shadow DN9

After a lot of browsing on the internet, I came across this. I can only describe it as brilliantly fantastic. How original is it? I have no idea what it is meant to resemble or how many races it was used for (I have noticed various liveries used for the DN9 car). But this strikes out to me. It isn’t sponsor endorsed (unless Satan Prints happened to be going at the time).

4: Renault R24

Many agreed that Renault had messed up after 2007, using a horrible paint scheme that shouldn’t work, and doesn’t. However since the team returned in 2002 till 2006, the team used a lovely red and yellow scheme, which worked fantastically. Probably best used in 2004 and the R24, it managed not to look busy sponsor wise, which is very hard to achieve. And it simply works. It is great.

3: Honda RA107

Okay, now you are thinking I have lost it. You are thinking this car was unbelievably ugly, and I, really cannot see how you can feel that way about this car. Sure, it was only used because Honda couldn’t get a big sponsor to fit on their car. But this is amazing and significantly better than the 2008 attempt or the ‘Stickers’ car. This captures my imagination, it is original. And after all, that is what I love in a F1 livery.

2: Spyker F8-VII

Well, for starters, it is orange. How many F1 cars do you see that is orange? And it sticks out like a sore thumb, except the car ain’t needing any treatment. There is nothing wrong with this car, it represents the colours of the Netherlands. What a shame Force India bought them out and produced such a drab and dull livery the next season.

1: Jaguar R3

If there is ever a livery better then this, then I must be in heaven. Jaguar can hold their heads high, they may not have done much in F1, but they did give us this. The R3 I say is the best, but it could have been any from five, they were all pretty much awesome. British Racing Green works on a car, especially a F1 car, it is gorgeous. Shame Aston Martin don’t get to be in F1, because we could be seeing that, without the white bits. Heaven.

And that concludes my top 5, honourable mentions go to the Jordan EJ11 (2001) especially down to the detail on the side of the nosecone with the teeth. And the yellow, surprisingly works. Also, the Williams FW28 (2006), just wishing they used a bit more blue.

Cars sadly these days lack any originality, with the exception of Toro Rosso, a car I love. Too much white and it must stop. Thankfully, BMW are pulling out so one less white car and Renault are losing ING, so here's hoping a return to the fantastic blue and yellow. The rest should take a long hard look at themselves, before I send the lot of them an e-mail with my ideas.

A Lost Cause

And so he leaves, causing a bit of a dust storm in his wake, but after 28 races, Nelson Piquet Jr finds himself back out of Formula 1. But after the war of words issued by the ex-driver, has Piquet been treated unfairly in his short spell in F1?

Nelson Piquet didn’t do that bad before his step up into F1, he did have more of a reason to be in F1 than Sebestien Buemi for instance. Buemi only finished 6th as his highest championship position in GP2, compared to Piquet’s 2nd, in a year that also featured the likes of Lewis Hamilton, who did blitz the competition. He trounced his team mate, Alexandre Negrao and finished ahead of former/future F1 stars Timo Glock, Giorgio Pantano and Gianmaria Bruni. A fairly successful spell in the lower formulae if you ask, certainly worthy of an F1 drive. Especially if Buemi got one for what he had a unspectacular GP2 campaign.

But from here, did he get in bed with the wrong people before being pushed onto the floor? He tested with Renault in 2007 before being promoted to race driver alongside ex-two time champion of the world, Fernando Alonso. It was never going to be fair play from day one. Flavio Briatore was always going to give Alonso main priority in the team, hence why 2007 driver Heikki Kovalainen was not signed on.

But showing, on your first qualifying session at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, you weren’t quick enough to beat Takuma Sato, in a Super Aguri, a team which had barely tested, a team which didn’t even know if it was going to start the season, then bad signs were ahead of you my friend. And then, first corner, you crash into Giancarlo Fisichella. Signs really aren’t pointing to stardom.

Two problems which plagued Piquet all throughout his F1 career, poor qualifying and the habit of spinning off at the worst possible moments. It wasn’t until the German Grand Prix in 2009 that he managed to out qualify Fernando Alonso for the first time. He failed to get out of Q1 an impressive eleven times, in a car equal to that of say, Williams. Comparing him to Kazuki Nakajima, who has done one more race than him (doing the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix replacing Alex Wurz), Nakajima has failed to get out of Q1 ten times. Why hasn’t he been sacked then? I’ll let Nelson Piquet say.

“I am certain it is because of the unfair situation I have been in the past two years. I always believed that having a manager was being a part of a team and having a partner. A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities. In my case it was the opposite. Flavio Briatore was my executioner.” 

A big ouch Mr Briatore. And if I were Romain Grosjean right now, I would not be looking forward to working under him at Renault. There is nothing there for him, it is a one driver team. And it will stay that way until Alonso leaves, or Renault leave. It’s a quick sand trap place, get stuck in and it is very difficult to get out. I feel sorry for Grosjean right now.

It is amazing to begin to feel sorry for Nelson Piquet after the Formula 1 fans absolutely massacred him over the past one and a half years.

The poor guy did have a horrible habit of making mistakes. A fine example is the Australian Grand Prix of this year, where he crashed on the lap after the safety car returned to the pits, because he had cold tyres. Nelson Piquet is a mistake prone driver, interestingly, the exact same can be said for his likely replacement, Romain Grosjean.

In this seasons GP2 series, the Frenchman driving for Barwa Addax was involved in a massive accident in the Monaco race and then in qualifying for the Hungarian race, took himself and Franck Perera out of qualifying.

But this isn’t about the suitability of Romain Grosjean, that's for another time, if I get to that. Nelson Piquet should still be in Formula 1, had he been given a fair chance by Flavio Briatore, he could have really impressed in the championship had he been given the right tools for the job. He showed that when given the same upgrades as Alonso, he was just as quick, if not quicker. Heck, when that Renault was mighty fine quick at the end of 2008, he wasn’t struggling at all. He scored a 4th place finish, a result we are crediting Nico Rosberg for getting recently. Piquet hardly got a congratulations for that result in Japan 2008. Overshadowed by Alonso’s win, probably, but still worth recognition after the season he had. Certainly more credible than the podium he got in Germany.

I never much shared much symphony with Nelson Piquet, often had the feeling of him that he was rather arrogant. But in light of what he had to deal with at Renault, I do feel sorry for him. He is without doubt a talented driver, if not error prone. But, isn’t that what Takuma Sato is? And he didn’t do half bad in F1. It is a shame to think the only way back in F1 for him is for his dad, Nelson Piquet sr, to buy a team and hire him.

But Renault will carry on, just regard Nelson Piquet as a worthless piece in their long history in motorsport. Someone who was easily replaced, just there to be a teammate of Fernando Alonso. That was his job, number two. But even as number two, Renault treated him more like a test driver. He might as well have been Romain Grosjean this season, more chance of racing fairly down in GP2.

I Promise Nothing

It is a Saturday. It is also very wet outside, I’m still recovering from an illness, so the best option for me is to stay inside, on the computer, listening to The Who, with Sky Sports News telling me friendly results I couldn’t give a damn about even if Spurs happened to be playing today.

With nothing to do at all, I suppose the next obvious option is to scour the internet of fun things to do with my day. However, no online games could capture any sort of youthful imagination and hence, grew bored, and left the internet.

So, I chuck the old PS2 on. I happen to have F106 playing, so I boot up the good-ish Hungaroring for a Race Weekend with Jarno Trulli. After promising practice sessions, I manage the quickest time in Q1, followed by the second quickest in Q2. Down to the final, big, twenty minute showdown they called Q3 back in 2006. Decent start, then BAM. Too much kerb at the chicane, spin and smash the wall. Disaster, I’m left trudging around the track for half a lap with no wing and a punctured wheel. I get back out and with three minutes to go, set pole ahead of Raikkonen. Alonso third. Race time, I get a good start, well, really, it was a useless start, the two behind zoomed ahead. But Trulli had a cunning plan, dive up the inside, I did that. It worked, Raikkonen fell to fifth. Then, at the chicane, BAM, spin, that poor Raikkonen had no where to go. I get annoyed and quit the game.

You may be wondering why I’ve talked about my day so far (which your probably thinking was a mighty boring one, I had McDonalds somewhere in there). Well, this entire post is going to be centrally based around nothing. The theme is nothing, I’m writing about nothing at all.

Which could easily be a problem.

But I’m not stooping to that sort of a level to get out of writing a blog post, I’m sure some people would. But, where is the fun in that? There has got to be some fun in everything, except probably this post, which will aim aimlessly into the clouds of the sky. With any luck, it might find me some dinner.

Dinner today was indeed McDonalds, one of those Summer offers they are doing, so they have changed the good old Chicken Legend. I think they have a new bun. Tastes nicer somehow, but ultimately, it couldn’t have been that hard. I also had one of the new milkshakes, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk I believe. And my, it was lovely. Though, reminds me of a Simpsons scene where the three cops are in Krusty Burger and Lou talks to the other two about the new McDonalds out of town.

Speaking of The Simpsons, when I was ill, I spent many hours watching through Season 6 and Season 7 DVD boxsets. What a buy. Two fantastic seasons, especially season 6. Personal favourite episodes of mine are the Who Shot Mr Burns (parts 1 and 2). These in my eyes are awesome shows, a fine mix of comedy, mystery and suspense. Unlikely culprit, pieced together fantastically. I’d be watching it right now if I didn’t have my greasy mits all over Season 8. Can’t wait to get to watch Season 9, the best season. The one with The Cartridge Family, widely regarded as one of the best Simpsons episodes ever.

Though, season 8 might have to be finished another time aside from today, it is the Speedway Grand Prix again tonight. They all head to the wonderful country of Latvia, which, as described as Sky Sports Pit Reporter Charlie Webster on Twitter is:

Latvia is becoming a bit of an adventure the roads are bad so we've been told it's quicker to jump on train from Riga to Daugavpils...

Only for her to later describe the trains as ‘way back in time’. Which says a not so promising lot about the country of Latvia, the country that never left the 19th Century it seems. The place the meeting is taking place is Daugavpils, and yes, I did have to copy that. According to sources, Charlie Webster again, the place has no where to eat. Which again, says a lot about Latvia. My tip for tonight is rain. Since it is going to rain, I ain’t predicting who is even going to come close to getting the semi finals.

Ooh, Sheffield Wednesday have just scored, I didn’t care about that. Sheffield Wednesday fans, do you even care its now 2-1 Blackburn? I’m sure to some of you, that would have been up to the minute goal flash. I mean, what really is the point of pre-season friendlies to the fans? You get to see the players at cut down prices. What a load of rubbish, they are not playing to the ability that they can so where is the benefit of watching them then. Wake me up when its 12:45 on Saturday 15th August.

Though I am sure everything following the 15th August will be brilliant. A new season of football, can not wait. Hopefully Spurs have finally got that bad start disease out of the system this year, if not, I'm sure Mr. Levy will happily take the Sack the Manager Pill, that he obviously has a lot of. Suppose I better be careful what I say, the papers could confuse me with Luka Modric and I end up having to follow the new Spurs policy.

Hopefully next season can be Modric real shining moment. The season where he steps out and shows the world he is a class player. He is one for sure.

Speaking of class players, Pedro Mendes is on tv. I always liked him, mainly for that goal against Everton, was a corker of a volley. That of course was followed by the goal that never was against the team that never is robbed by the linesmen who wasn’t there and taken away from the points we didn’t actually need. Though if Manchester United had of won the league by one point that season, I’d have sworn evil revenge upon them. Gladly however, they finished third. We finished 9th, those two points would have meant we finished eigth. One point off Europe. So we could find some other useless referee mistake to blame for us not being in Europe once again. Of course, following season and all…

Europe is overrated anyway, who would want to compete in the Europa League? What sort of ridiculously titled, uselessly planned competition is it? Organised by an over-egotistical, moronic, evil, sinister, well, he is the one person I would like to get rid from football personally. Mr Platini.

Another rant, for another time. I’ve overran my stay of talking. This post, is true to the blogs name actually, one big waffle. Hope you enjoyed. Made me less bored, if thats possible. Speaking of which…

The Forgotten Man

The world was at his feet, yet cruelly taken away from him. He is stuck as a reserve driver in the worst team in Formula 1 and taken part in events significantly lower down the motorsport pecking order. How can Vitantonio Liuzzi be forgotten so easily?

Liuzzi impressed in the International F300 Championship of 2004, of the 10 races that season he scored 9 pole positions and 7 race wins. He dominated the season with a final total of 86 points, 30 points more than the nearest competitor and fellow compatriot Enrico Toccacello. The season impressed Red Bull Racing, who for 2005 bought out Jaguar, and the new team originally opted for the Italian to partner David Coulthard.

Yet life never seems fair, the main people at Red Bull opted for Christian Klien instead of Liuzzi. But since there was a contract for Liuzzi to race at least a few races of that season, he got the gig for races 4-7, San Marino, Spain, Monaco and Europe. He managed to get his highest finish of 8th in the San Marino Grand Prix, but mainly benefitting of the BAR exclusions and Ralf Schumacher being handed a 25 second penalty at the end of the race. His last race of that spell was at the Nurburgring, where he clocked a 9th place finish. It would also be his last race of the season, the team keeping him as a test driver with Klien on the front line. The Austrian would end up scoring another 6 points that season and Red Bull would end up with a solid end to their first season in Formula 1.

But the Red Bull empire wasn’t going to stop at helping with one team, oh no, the lovable minnows of Minardi were purchased and the new team of Toro Rosso were created. The team needed drivers, and with Red Bull using David Coulthard and Christian Klien again for the 2006 season, Liuzzi was left without a race drive. He opted for the new Italian outfit alongside American Scott Speed.

The season was slow, the team struggling to get to grips with Formula 1 and securing just the one point, yet still finishing in 9th ahead of other new comers Midland and Super Aguri. The high point of the season involved Liuzzi at the United States Grand Prix, mainly being helped by the massive first corner crash involving seven drivers who were forced to retire, including Liuzzi’s team mate Scott Speed.

He was signed up for Toro Rosso again for the 2007 season alongside the American, but cracks began to show in relations between the two drivers and the owners of Toro Rosso, Franz Tost and Gerhard Berger. Scott Speed issued a statement where he said that the owners wanted to get rid of both him and Liuzzi for next season. Unsurprisingly, Speed was sacked a week later for the BMW Sauber test driver Sebastian Vettel. Vitantonio Liuzzi lasted the season, securing a 6th place at China, and along with Vettel’s 4th, made the race Toro' Rosso’s best finish at the time. He came close to scoring points at the Japanese Grand Prix as well, but in the torrential rain he overtook under waved yellow flags and was given a 25 second penalty, losing his point to fellow minnows Spyker.

Liuzzi was not retained for 2008. Vettel stayed at Toro Rosso and they brought in four time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais. He moved to Force India in the winter of 2008, where he was in competition for a race seat alongside the likes of Franck Montagny, Ralf Schumacher and the eventual driver Giancarlo Fisichella. He was still chosen as a test driver at the team, but with no opportunities arriving for him during the 2008 season and so far during the 2009 season, he opted to drive in Speedcar and the A1GP. He showed speed during the first qualification he was a part of, securing pole position at the new Portimao circuit in the Algarve of Portugal. His highest finish was a fourth in the Sprint Race at that same venue.

What are the options now for Vitantonio Liuzzi?

The contracts for the race drivers at Force India, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil are coming towards an end at the final race of the season. Liuzzi’s contract on the other hand finishes at the end of the 2010 season. Therefore, assuming that the contracts are not renewed for either driver, especially considering Fisichella’s age and the slight demand that Adrian Sutil is in, after two long years of test drive and reserve duties at Force India, he may finally get the gig after two years of patience at the team.

But Force India have shown loyalty to both race drivers and it could be a case that both their contracts are renewed for yet another season, leaving the unfortunate Italian once again left out in the cold. The problem I see with this is that in my own opinion, Liuzzi is the best driver out of the three of them. What is the use of using the best driver in the team as someone who turns up at a race weekend hoping that one driver or the other can’t make it due to being ill. If it were me in Vijay Mallya’s boots, Giancarlo Fisichella would be the reserve driver. The only the reason he is in the team is for experience that he has over the years, race victories at Renault. But race victories shouldn’t buy yourself into a race seat just because you have a few more than the other guy. At best, Fisichella is average, compared to work Liuzzi had to put up with at two poor, slow Toro Rosso cars he showed some class at times, I am yet to see that from Fisichella in his Force India. Sure he has come close to the points at several occasions this season, Monaco this season is a good example, but at a track like Monaco, its down to strategy that he got where he was, all he has to do is keep it on track and from there cause some sort of Trulli Train in the form of a Fisichella Ferry (Possibly better to have been used during Monaco of 2008). Adrian Sutil has outclassed him in qualifying and had it not been down to some pretty bad luck in races this season, he could have had Force India’s first ever points. Tonio could easily match Sutil.

My only worry about Liuzzi is the in season testing ban meaning he will be rusty if he does end up at Force India or another race team next season. Without being involved in another racing series, come January when pre-season testing starts, he will not have driven a race car around circuits since May and the A1GP at Brands Hatch. Ideally for Liuzzi, he needs to be in another series, possibly GP2 if there is a race seat available. Aside from GP2 however, there are no series going on during the summer that can offer the same class of quality that he needs to be driving at. There is the possibility of doing what Bourdais did and feature in a LMS or ALMS race at some point.

One thing is for certain about Vitantonio Liuzzi, he deserves more than he has got in motorsport thus far. No chance to shine at Red Bull before he was quickly hushed under the carpet for Klien to step on him again. Toro Rosso didn’t give him a competitive car for two full seasons and wanted to get rid of him half way through the second of those seasons. Yet to get a race drive in one and a half years now, the popular Italian must be wondering how it never seems to go his way. With the good chance of getting into an ever improving Force India next season, the future could be bright for Liuzzi and I for one, want to see him prove the doubters, the former teams, everyone what he can do.

Speed, Dust and Fighting

 

A warm day in Cardiff, few clouds in the air and the temperature is high. Cardiff City Centre is littered with makeshift stores, selling flags, air horns and t-shirts. They were swarmed with crowds all heading to one destination, the Millennium Stadium, for the Speedway Grand Prix.

This year marks the 9th time the SGP has visited the wonderful city of Cardiff, but this year marked the first time that I had managed to make the trip down. The day started early and finished late, but that is not what I cared about. From mid-afternoon to late evening I got one hell of an entertainment show. Excluding Killer Queen, who were awful.

The seats we had were at the lower tier of the stadium, meaning we were one of the closest people to the track. And the referee, which allowed heckling to be a whole lot easier. Awesome seats still, though the television above us (as we couldn’t see the big screen) had to be the one that didn’t work. Typical luck.

The Parade starts, pretty sure the British drivers – Scotty Nicholls, Chris “Bomber” Harris, wildcard Edward Kennett and the two reserves in Tai Woffinden and Simon Stead. But they did bring out some snazzy tri-bikes to showcase the the drivers around the track.

Scotty Nicholls Hiding From Me

The races had earlier started with some British Junior heats. However they were cut short due to a rather nasty looking crash involving one of the youngest riders. This required an ambulance to come on track to sort things out.

The Speedway Grand Prix started off, with Heat 1 consisting of the Russian sensation Emil Sayfutdinov, Nicki Pedersen, Kenneth Bjerre and Rune Holta. This also saw the first crash, Rune Holta losing control at turn three causing a red flag and his eventual exclusion. Impressively, it was Kenneth Bjerre who ended up managing to win the heat, starting off a fairly dismal night for Sayfutdinov and Pedersen.

Then came heat two and the first one involving British riders, my personal favourite, Scotty Nicholls. The reception of Nicholls coming on, as well as other Brits was unbelievable, the flags flying high, the air horns blasting, it was immense. Sadly, Nicholls could only replicate his current form and ended up last in the heat. And it relied on Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris to save the day for the Brits in the first round of heats. He duly delivered, with a lovely second place finish behind the unstoppable Jason Crump.

Every four heats there is a little break to allow the television companies an advertisement break. Normally, its just a good time to have a quick visit to the toilet or get yourself a quick drink (of coke, I’m not drinking. But the way some people were buying there beers, they would be drunk be heat 4). Can only describe how massively useful ad breaks can be sometimes.

Then the big drama. Heat 5. Fairly standard heat, Sebastian Ulameck edging out Chris Harris. But a late battle between Scotty Nicholls and Emil Sayfutdinov resulted in a fight at the track entrance. The way the crowd rose to their feet and cheered on Scotty was incredible. Watching replays of it, still unsure why Tai Woffinden got involved to stop them. If you haven’t seen it, look below. Would also recommend that you watch all the way through.

The reaction of that eventually died down and it was back down to the good reason I was there, speedway. The following heats were formulaic, Jason Crump showing he is the best rider out there and the popular Leigh Adams struggling to find anything at all.

Half time allowed me to stretch my legs for an even longer amount of time, whilst listening to hear some pretty dire music sung by someone I have never heard of before. This also allowed me to look at the number of different banners littered across the stadium. My personal favourite being in support of the ever lovable American, Greg Hancock.

If you don’t understand the story, basically his new main sponsor for this season is the energy drink ‘Monster’ which also sponsored Jenson Button at Silverstone. There were loads for Scotty Nicholls and Chris Harris, even the odd one for Tai Woffinden.

The heats restarted, Rune Holta managed to crash out again in Heat 16 and the biggest shock in Heat 17 was Jason Crump slam into the comfortable air fence. However, he picked himself up and Swede Andreas Jonsson was excluded for an avoidable collision. He picked himself up, and inevitably won the re-run.

 Crump is down

But before that, Scotty Nicholls has managed to win his first heat of the season. And the reaction of the crowd was unbelievable. The stadium had absolutely erupted, flags at an even higher mast, air horns, somehow, louder. It was incredible.

And when Chris Harris won his heat, I think we managed to deafen the whole of Cardiff.

Due to the fact Chris Harris had managed to get into the top 8, he was in the semi finals. And was involved in the second semi, a close tussle with the Brit, Nicki Pedersen, Greg Hancock and another Dane, Hans Andersen. Then this is where being close to the referees helped. At the second corner, Hans Andersen lost control of his bike, Harris, who had a bad start himself barely touched Andersen as he fell to the ground. Everyone expected Andersen to be excluded, but when the light flashed Blue, it was instead Chris Harris excluded. And how the crowd booed that decision. And it wasn’t just to the referee, Hans Andersen got a full boo for when he came out for the re run. Second attempt, the same thing happened. But this time, replace Andersen with Pedersen and Harris with Andersen. Pedersen was excluded. Whilst this was still good, with everyone hating him after the events of last year, the real decision was that it should have been Andersen excluded. More boos followed. This left the third re run with just two riders, Hancock and Andersen and they finished in that order.

So the final arrived, the so far unstoppable Jason Crump on course for a 100% record. Then was the loveable Greg Hancock and the hateable Hans Andersen. Finally, there was the quiet and unfancied Swede Fredrik Lindgren, who I decided to tip for a surprise win.

There was no surprises. Despite disappointment on the last lap with Hancock losing third to Andersen, it was a comfortable victory for Jason Crump. He finished ahead of Fredrik Lindgren easily.

When the interviews took place, the crowd deafened Jason Crump with blasts of the air horns. We appreciated his victory, show how much we really do like him. Lindgren and Hancock got a similar response. Andersen, unsurprisingly, didn’t

And with the events coming to a conclusion, a fireworks display celebrating the events, I decided that it was a fantastic day out in the Millennium Stadium. I loved the out of this world atmosphere that would be unachievable without a roof. It is a great place for this event, wouldn’t want to see it anywhere else. I want to go again for 2010. The 10th anniversary of the event at Cardiff, and I’m sure it will be even better than 2009.

A Grand North Yorkshire Day Out

The BTCC headed to Croft Circuit this weekend, and I managed to head out on the Sunday down to the race circuit to watch some racing. Whilst the weather looked grand in the morning, no clouds in the sky. How things can quickly change and it turned out all 2008 with torrential downpour at the end of the race. Obviously I took my camera and here are a few of my favourite ones.

Pre-Race

Ex ITV F1 anchor Steve Ryder. Managed to get him just after I had finished walking the pits. Got to admit, he looked relaxed. Managed to see Louise Goodman in the pits, but she was getting all fitted up with the gadgets required.

BTCC – 1st Race

  This is Team Aon’s Tom Chilton chasing down Sunshine.co.uk’s Martin Bell. Quite hard early on to get decent ones of moving cars, this the best of them I reckon. Nice to get two in a shot. If it wasn’t for that pesky railing of course.

Porsche Carrera’s – 1st Race

This one is of Oliver Jackson in the Motorbase Performance car. Nice shot (minus the railing)

Ginetta G50’s 

This is the only one I have with a driver celebrating. No idea who though.

Formula Renault

I have nothing much to say on this one but I did find somewhere to get a bit of height and stop that stupid railings hogging the photo. Nice and central, it is of Fortec Motorsports Oli Webb.

BTCC – 2nd Race

The Cartridge World Seat in front of the Cartridge World VIP’s. That lot were opposite me for the whole race and whenever that car passed, they cheered and applauded, even though most of the time he was stone dead last. I get the impression they don’t watch racing much then.

Renault Clio

After a quick trip to have a bit of a rubbish filled lunch, hence why this is from the other side of the track. I still managed to catch up with a massive crash, that wheel lasted there for an entire lap and provided some rather exciting off track excursions for the on coming cars. Amazing how no one hit the debris.

Ginetta Junior 

This is Sarah Moore. For no other reason than it took about five attempts to get a good shot of this car. Still too blurry for my liking, but it is the best one I have.

Porsche Carrera’s – 2nd Race

All my dad’s fault for getting his hand in the way. This sums up the race and the last BTCC race. Safety Car after Safety Car. Coming in and out one lap of the time ruining the flow of the race.

And here is the bit where the camera battery dies and I realise that I have none spare. I suspect I didn’t miss much in the BTCC race three photo wise. Still, enjoyable day out all the same. If you want all of my photos, check out my new flickr place which will be uploading all shortly.