Some F1 thoughts (overdue :s)

Hey all, it's been a while since my last moan to the internet so here we are, late but not really that sorry...

Not only am I overdue a blog in general, but an F1 themed blog which I've been meaning to do for some time - in that time, Hamilton has won for the first time, twice, but more on that later.

So yeah, in the past, I've put down some thoughts concerning the championship hunt, health of teams etc. Unfortunately this season I haven't had anyone to properly bounce off my ideas with, that person of course being Will for the last few years.

So let's start right at the beginning, that seems the traditional thing to do, no? Anyways, ahead of the start of the season, it's not uncommon for us in the red faction house to get out our wallets, and really think about putting our money where our mouths are.
Pushing Will to commiting to a pre-season prediction, he opted for Kimi and Ferrari for their respective championships. I went for Alonso and McLaren, and I am happy to say that Kimi's form this season has been sub-par after his maiden win in Austrailia for his new team. McLaren have also been doing well, although it actually has been Hamilton that has been more consistent , and thanks to his two wins in the North American leg of the World Championship, he finds himself 10 points clear of Alonso who resides in 2nd place, as the standings below show:

Standings as of US GP:

Driver's Championship
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes GB 58
2 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes Spa 48
3 Felipe Massa Ferrari Brz 39
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Fin 32
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber Ger 26
6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault Ita 13
7 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber Pol 12
8 Heikki Kovalainen Renault Fin 12

Constructor's Championship
1 McLaren-Mercedes 106
2 Ferrari 71
3 BMW Sauber 39
4 Renault 25
5 Williams-Toyota 13
6 Toyota 9
7 Red Bull-Renault 6
8 Super Aguri-Honda 4

I am a little annoyed that we me and Will didn't actually put anything on the bet, although it would be hard to collect it as we're opposite sides of the country more and less now. Plus I only say that because my chances of winning the bet look very healthy at the moment lol.

I might as well take this moment to repeat what has already been said in the press like a million times, but Hamilton is now the most successful rookie in the sport. He has been on the podium in all 7 races so far in the championship, and he has won the last two. Granted, he is racing in probably the best car in the current field which is obviously helping to propel his perfomances and successes that he is gaining from them. Even with a great car, he has not succumb to the pressures of racing in F1 against the best drivers in the world, with the current double World Champion as his teammate no less. It's weird, it actually hasn't properly sunk in, for me at least, that we now have a successful British driver in F1 (sorry Button). I was cautious in the first few races, and actually incredibly annoyed that itv's F1 coverage was being terribly biased towards Hamilton - He's done a great job, a couple of podiums at the time of me thinking this, but people seemed to be overlooking the fact that his teammate is a double world champion for christ's sake - surely a pre-season favourite for the title.

Now, you have to give some realistic thoughts to the future, and that Hamilton could win the World Championship in his rookie year. It's an exciting thought, and it's unclear if McLaren will engineer towards allowing that to happen. Recently inter-team quabbles have broke out with Alonso feeling not completely comfortable in the team, and having the discouraging concern that the English team is taking preference with their English driver. Apparently the Spanish press misunderstood this, although it seems difficult to misinterpret those comments, and it's not that suprising that Alonso is getting worried that perhaps his third championship is not as guaranteed as it maybe once was.

Alonso's problem is not the pressure of his rookie teammate outperforming him, but technical problems with the car, if the publication F1 Racing magazine is to be believed. Alonso has had to make the transistion from Michellins (which he used to win both titles) onto the Bridgestones, and he has struggled with them. These different tires have compromised his driving style, which he has affectively had to relearn. Alonso was renowned for a sharp steering input when turning into the corner, and with these new softer Bridgestones, the tyres do not react by giving Alonso as much grip as he once obtained but understeering instead. Hamilton, as it has been widelt documented, likes an oversteery car, and he often is throwing the backend out, sliding the car round corners, leaning on the rears as opposed to the front tyres which Alonso extensively leans on. Saying that, Alonso is a great driver and racer, and despite these problems is still competitive, but has fell foul to bad luck, notably in Canada with being caught out by the safety car deployments.

Speaking more generally now, and I am saddened to see that Steve Ryder's post qualifying interview on a Saturday afternoon/evening with Jenson no longer happens. Unsuprisingly it is now replaced with an interview with Lewis Hamilton. For the last couple of years, the British press were convinced that it could finally be Button's year, the year he would breakthrough and start challenging for the World Championship. Everyone was convinced that 2006 would be the year. but the Honda car was not truly competitive and suffered some reliability issues. This was the year that Steve Ryder started the interviews with Jenson. Jenson eventually made his breakthrough and won the Hungarian GP, thanks to unpredictable weather conditions, but then went on to the highest point scorer for the remainder of the season. 2007 comes round and you would not be considered crazy to think that Honda and Jenson could mount a serious Championship bid, but the car has been frankly awful suffering from poor stability, particulary at the front. Yep, the Honda team have been struggling towards the back of the midfield, and subsequently Steve Ryder has stopped booking Jenson and moved onto Lewis for his interview with a Brit. Although, again according to F1 Racing magazine, Jenson's stock value is still healthy in the paddocks, I fear with the arrival of Lewis he may just fade, and never reach the pinnacle of the sport which so many were convinced he would.

On a final note, with the advent of Steve Ryder into itv's F1 coverage, itv seem to no longer feel it necessary to fork out for a studio in which to use for pre and post-race coverage. No, us loyal fans have to put up with Steve and Mark Blundell speaking in front of a Camera in the middle of the pit-lane, often having to move out of the way because they are in the way of the team's preperation, or deafened by the emergence of the cars from their garages. Itv, just get a studio, godamnit. Also, while I'm on the subject of itv's coverage, they have to do something about relying on local directors to decide what gets aired. More often than not, drivers whose home GP it is get biased coverage, which if they are a midfielder, compromises on the more exciting battles that are occuring elsewhere on the track. Take the US GP for eaxmple, the director was giving precedence to Scott Speed early on in the race - I was there shouting, "No! We don't want to watch Scott Speed! Arg!" to which he promptedly locked a brake and ran wide into turn 1. Luckily this bias didn't continue thankfully, but it's something that even the itv commentators concede is a problem with their coverage. Unfortunately, for those that do not subscribe to Satellite or cable, itv's coverage is the only option for F1 fans else I would probably watch another channel's coverage. As much as I respect and enjoy Martin Brundle's racing driver-informed commentary, I can not stand James Allen. Poor Hamilton will have the moment where he crossed the line for his maiden victory with James Allen going in his silly accent "Lewis Hamilton... Wins!".

Here's wanting Murray Walker back, a TV ad for Silverstone is not good enough, come back Murray, I'm sure they'll take good care of you.

Take it Easy.