Christian Horner nude? Stop reading the intro and hurry on down to the links…
Links
Christian Horner nude interview (F1Fanatic_co_uk on Twitpic)
Thanks to Fiona Vallis for sending this one in – it got a lot of interest on Twitter yesterday!
Teams pondering GP format tweaks (Autosport)
There’s very little wrong with the race format at the moment. As we discussed at length in the “Making F1 better” series here a few weeks ago, the first thing they need to get right is the cars – shifting the balance so they have more power and less grip.
The secret life of Rubens Barrichello (F1.com)
“I collect other people’s helmets. I have a lot of them and I also exchange them. I have around 40 helmets, from almost everyone in the paddock now.”
Comment of the day
Some interesting thoughts from graigchq on whether we expect too much of rookies too soon:
I’m pretty sure that if some of these new drivers, let’s say Hulkenberg, Senna, Chandok, all got personal endorsements and long term contracts drawn up at the age of 10, had good personal relationships with past and present engineers and was then given a top-tier race seat for their first season, they would do a lot better.
Just look at Hamilton. He was only a rookie for like five minutes until he was racing wheel to wheel with Alonso. Give them time.
You also have to remember that as F1 changes so much season upon season, the general dynamic of what it is to drive an F1 car changes quite drastically. I imagine a lot of the current crop of drivers really pull upon their previous experience with developing the cars throughout the season to drive them to their limits.
Without the comfort if being in a top-performing team with a good development program it’s hard as a driver to know whether it is you who needs improving, the car, both or something else altogether.
These guys will be around for a few years, and i just hope that the likes of Algesuari, Buemi, Kobayashi are given the long term treatment by their teams with ample opportunity to improve as without that support, it’s unlikely that any driver skilled or not would rise up to the task.
graigchq
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Alain Prost won an eventful Monaco Grand Prix on this day 25 years ago. Ayrton Senna led the first 13 laps until the engine failed in his Lotus.
Michele Alboreto took over the lead from Prost. This dramatic crash between Nelson Piquet (Brabham) and Riccardo Patrese (Alfa Romeo) ultimately decided the course of the race.
Alboreto hit the oil at Sainte Devote and skidded to a halt. But by the time he’d got the Ferrari back on track Prost had taken the lead off him.
It took just six laps for Alboreto to catch Prost and dive past him at the very corner where he’d lost the lead. Yes, you read that right, a pass for the lead at Monaco, possibly the last one in history.
But Alboreto lost the lead again, this time due to a deflating left-rear tyre, possible a consequence of debris from the Piquet-Patrese wreck. He came back out in fourth, passed Andrea de Cesaris and Elio de Angelis to take second, but couldn’t catch Prost.
If only we still had Monaco Grands Prix like that one!
Michael Griffin
19th May 2010, 0:20
You see, we had memorable races like that because of something we did not have, at least in the scary abundance of modern day.
Computers.
Car design is so computer aided now that any rule changes dramatically cutting downforce will work for all of a few months before the computers and the massive brains in the heads of designers catch up and surpass previous levels.
If we had rule which said limited time in a wind-tunnel before the season and a ban on them in-season, it would cut that clawback time by a lot, probably.
Better still, ban Computer Aided Design, whether it be by CFD or Wind Tunnels.
Pencil and paper designing, now THAT would help bring back overtaking. Would force engine manufacturers to go for more power rather than rely on the brain of a designer.
matt90
19th May 2010, 1:23
And then teams with an intitial advantage would be virtually guaranteed the championship.
Scribe
19th May 2010, 9:10
Well Michael , it really depnds on the downforce creating elements, an the number of legal elements on each car.
Current cars have two massive an unrestricted creators of downforce on them, with the rear diffuser being the bad one because of the wake it produces onto the next cars front wing.
Ban wings an theres a lot less the designers can do.
Sush Meerkat
19th May 2010, 9:19
If you ban computer aided design any car designed by Andrian Newey will have an advantage for the 4 years while everyone else gets to grips of not having that crutch
Ratboy
19th May 2010, 0:31
All im saying about Christian horner nude pic is, small mirrors on F1 cars arent they ;)lmao
S Hughes
19th May 2010, 10:04
OMG, that is hilarious. Have no other words.
:)
Icthyes
19th May 2010, 0:46
How about fans sign up to a lottery in which free tickets can be given to random winners 24 hours before a race? These would be any tickets not sold minus 1000 for people turning up and buying tickets at the race on a whim (never going to be that many, but it’s always best to be safe). Fans aren’t going because they don’t want to, it’s because they can’t afford it!
sato113
19th May 2010, 2:13
so true. i dont think even bernie gets it.
Mike
19th May 2010, 7:28
Alot of free tickets for China, none for Monaco, the stands in Monaco were packed, no legroom available, Yet I do recall in China a whole stand had been converted into a giant advertisement.
Tiago
19th May 2010, 1:01
Wow, amazing sportsmanship between Patresse and Piquet.
Someone send this video to Truly, and then he might just go and hug Sutil :P
TommyB
19th May 2010, 1:43
Rubens collects other drivers helmets, so does his countryman Luciano Burti. He uploaded a pic to twit pic a while ago now. I remembered seeing it.
http://twitpic.com/9jr5h
What is even more awesome though is this 1/5…yep 1/5! Scale model Ferrari!
http://twitpic.com/odjyk
GeeMac
19th May 2010, 7:35
I forgot how bad Eddie Irvine’s Jaguar helmet was! Great concept… flawed in practice!
Fer no.65
19th May 2010, 3:05
The rookies in recent years have put the bar too high for the others to impress us really…
Looking back the past 3 or 4 years, Robert Kubica appeared on the podium in just his 3rd race. Hamilton was fast from day 1, scoring 6 consecutive podiums and then his first win in 7 races. And Vettel impressed us with his 4th place at Shangai on a Toro Rosso, a week after crashing Webber while 3rd on a extremely wet Fuji.
What happened to Grosjean last year then clearly shows how difficult is to get into F1 and be fast alright these days. Vettel and Kubica had been testing BMWs as 3rd driver in 2006 before getting his F1 chance at some race. Hamilton had support from Mclaren; they connected him to their simulator million of hours before getting on their F1 car.
But Grosjean jumped from GP2 (i don’t follow it but i undestand he was pretty quick) to a Renault R29 that was really struggling even at the hands of Fernando Alonso. Hulkemberg, Senna, Chandhok all had similar experiences. Plus they are not on top shelf cars.
So… have we got too impacient? Look at Jaime Alguersuari. He was a danger on track last year. Now he’s outscoring his more rated team mate at Toro Rosso.
Isn’t it that they just need some time?…
macahan
19th May 2010, 3:25
don’t forget that Vettels first visit to F1 was as a reserve driver for Kubica in a BMW and scored points in his first race. Next year he had a permanent ride with STR.
Magnificent Geoffrey
19th May 2010, 4:23
I think that in the last few years, the majority of rookies have come through in very unusual circumstances for Formula 1:
Hamilton: debuted with, arguably, the fastest car on the grid and a 2-Time World Champion for a teammate – broke every rookie record and almost won the Championship in his debut year – somehow managed to turn himself into F1’s most loved and most despised driver, simultaneously.
Kubica: came in half way through a season and did a pretty good job with that Monza podium to boot.
Piquet Jr: debuted in a mid-field car with a 2-Time World Champion as a teammate and definite #2 status – was completely obliterated for the entire year and a half.
Vettel: points in debut race in USA replacing Kubica, replaced Scott Speed at Toro Rosso half way through the season with disaster in Fuji and 4th in the next race in China – won Italian GP the following year in his first full season.
Alguersuari: debuted halfway through ‘09 with ZERO experience in the car – youngest and most underprepared rookie in history – no testing outside of race weekends.
Grosjean: Sorry, who?
Kobayashi: Toyota ’09 – “Ugh, this guy is just the token Japanese replacement for the injured Tim-OH MY GOD , THIS GUY IS AMAZING!!!” – Great drive in his second race in Abu Dhabi after failed assassination attempt on compatriot Nakajima during debut race in Brazil.
Senna & Chandok: Debuted in brand new team only driving the car for the very first time during the opening race weekend – their car is far and away the slowest car on the grid by a number of seconds a lap – no testing outside of race weekends.
All of these guys debuted under very unusual circumstances: so let’s compare them to the last few rookies who made more conventional debuts:
Sutil: Spyker ‘07 – crash-prone but very fast on his day – surely will be on the grid for a while longer.
Kovalainen: Renault ’07 – made a few mistakes partnering Fisi but did enough to ‘earn’ a two-year stint at McLaren, where he was brutalised by Hamilton – currently slumming it in a Lotus in between saving starving children.
Nakajima: Williams ’07-’08 – Scored points a fair few times in debut season – scored Sweet FA in his second season and was dropped.
Bourdais: Toro Rosso ’08 – 12-Time (or something) ChampCar Champion who some (me) expected to make an impact – dropped halfway through ’09 after distinct lack of impact making.
Buemi: Toro Rosso ’09 – Scored a couple times (including on debut) but has turned into possibly the most inconspicuous driver on the grid – most memorable moment being his car committing suicide at the end of the main straight in China.
Petrov: Renault 2010 – Seems to crash a bit in practice/qualy sessions and has been thrashed by Kubica so far – the all too common shots of his manager post-shunts are highly amusing.
Hulkenberg: Williams 2010 – GP2 Champ and the rookie with, arguably, the best rookie CV since Hamilton. Steph summed up his year so far in the Monaco live blog pretty well – http://kcgadiyar.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/hulk-smash1.jpg
Di Grassi: Virgin 2010 – Doing OK but seemingly slower than Glock – hard to really make an impact in a car that technically isn’t able to finish a race.
The biggest problem facing the new guys surely must be the lack of testing out of race weekends. Fernando Alonso started his career in a Minardi but still managed to perform at a level where his ability could be seen by all, which gives the new guys particularly at the back of the field some hope. However, not having the opportunity to develop their skills outside of a racing environment surely makes that much harder for them to do so.
US_Peter
19th May 2010, 6:45
Yes. All of that ^.
George
19th May 2010, 7:26
I have to say I think di Grassi is doing the best of the new guys so far this year, he’s been hanging onto Timo’s coat tails most of the time and has been racy given the opportunity.
BasCB
19th May 2010, 8:32
Lets not forget that Vettel had at least had several friday testing drives behind him and Hamilton had a good deal of winter testing behind him before gettin in the first race. Alonso (as well as Massa) got the whole year testdriving before getting into a race winning car. That supports your argument even more.
I think the real point is here, that after testing was severely limited, teams must be taking a more gradual approach with rookie drivers.
Best is to have them drive on fridays, then do winter testing and get into the car. And expect them to take at least 1/2 a season to get into the groove before thinking of dropping them.
It also makes it more interesting for teams to have experienced drivers next to rookies, as we saw in the past as well.
Tom M
19th May 2010, 6:18
“Kobayashi: Toyota ’09 – “Ugh, this guy is just the token Japanese replacement for the injured Tim-OH MY GOD , THIS GUY IS AMAZING!!!” – Great drive in his second race in Abu Dhabi after failed assassination attempt on compatriot Nakajima during debut race in Brazil.”
COTD.
Mike
19th May 2010, 15:27
Seconded, but his whole post.
Bleu
19th May 2010, 7:02
I counted that Barrichello has raced against 133 drivers (of which three have then died) in his F1 career. Seems that if he had started collecting little earlier his collection might be bigger.
maciek
19th May 2010, 7:46
So what is nude Christian Horner doing sitting on a car emblazoned with the russian coat of arms?
steph
19th May 2010, 8:02
Nice one Rubens. I adore helmet designs, I can only collect images though not actual helmets. If only I had the talent to be a racing driver or a fly on the wall to get a good look at all of the helmets he has
GeeMac
19th May 2010, 8:02
“Q: What is your favourite high?
RB: I am always so positive and smiley, but when I am at home doing nothing – and it’s probably something I shouldn’t do – is to drink a Coke. That gives me some sort of high.”
Something I have noticed from F1.com’s “Secret life of …” series is just how boring F1 drivers have become! Drinking a coke is your favorite high… come on Rubinho! Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button both seem to be equally boring in this respect.
The mantra for these drivers should be “What would James Hunt have done?”
HG
19th May 2010, 10:08
James Hunt/Kimi
NomadIndian
19th May 2010, 11:44
And his dream date is Tiger Woods :/ !
Lucas.M
19th May 2010, 9:09
Looking at that Piquet/Patrese crash, I would have thought one of them would have blamed the other. An incident similar to Sutil/Trulli Brazil ’09
BasCB
19th May 2010, 11:25
Renault making a go for some new customers after their engines show their potential in a monaco podium:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83727
The article states Williams and Lotus as potential new customers. So who do you think would be seriously interested?
BasCB
19th May 2010, 16:39
this is nothing new about the McLaren MP4-12C, but still it is nice to read about it and see the Jenson and Lewis video again.
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/mclaren-automotive-launches-mp4-12c-its-first-supercar/1002074.article
f1jocker12
21st May 2010, 0:12
christian horner is borned in 1973… so the interview is from 2000.