I see James Allen is running a competition on his website with a very exciting prize. Entry is via nomination and D Winn and Jasper have very kindly put my names down for it – thanks very much to them!
There are loads of people who post in the comments here who I’d like to nominate but I couldn’t possibly pick just one. Instead I strongly urge you all to head over there and nominate one of the many excellent contributors from the F1 Fanatic community to win this excellent prize.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Italian Grand Prix video edit (F1.com)
Looks like Sebastian Vettel was unhappy about something: “Seriously guys are you ******* kidding me or what?”
Brawn: F1 calendar becoming ‘critical’ (ITV-F1)
“So we can rotate mechanics, that’s possible. It becomes a bit more difficult with the engineers, because of course they are very closely linked with their drivers. I think we’ll have to think about their workload at the factory as well as their workload at the circuit.”
Commercial side key to Raikkonen fate (Autosport)
Gerard Lopez: “It’s funny because people now think things are going well and we’re going to change drivers. There’s a certain rally driver that wasn’t interested in Formula 1 but now has made contact and is interested in coming back to F1, funnily enough with us, but we’re not there yet.”
Comment of the day
I don’t always pick comments I agree with for COTD but I think Prisoner Monkeys nailed it on Nick Heidfeld’s criticism of Singapore:
Bumps give a circuit character. We don’t want to see twenty races where the surface is as flat as the proverbial billiards table. It might be uncomfortable for them, but bumps add an extra layer of challenge to a circuit.
Prisoner Monkeys
From the forum
Here’s a cracking thread from polishboy808: design your own street track.
Site updates
The F1 2010 statistics page has been updated and now has a menu using anchor links to help you find what you want and a breakdown of engines used so far by each driver.
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
Two years ago we polled on who was the best F1 driver in the wet and, out of over 1,000 responses, Lewis Hamilton came out on top.
Has that view changed since then? Have your say in the comments.
Read more: Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen?óÔé¼?ª Who’s the best F1 driver in the wet?
Victor.
18th September 2010, 0:07
Please let Raikkonen join Renault. The driver line-up would be absolutely epic…
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2010, 1:02
Except that Raikkonen would probably grow bored during the winter break and leave before Bahrain.
Dan Newton
18th September 2010, 1:19
Definatly, think how many World Champions there would be. Esp if Schumacher keeps driving and either Webber or Vettel win. Er..I think that with Raikkonen there’d be 6. Don’t think thats happened before. But we’ll have to wait and see.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
18th September 2010, 1:47
… and if Villeneuve pulls of a purchase of a team and puts himself in a car that’d be 7.
Sideshow Bob
18th September 2010, 1:32
I could sort of see Raikkonen spending a year at Renault to prove his chops and then trying to get back into a bigger team, perhaps Red Bull. Not sure there would be any room at McLaren or Ferrari, though I would surely dream of an Alonso-Raikkonen pairing…
I don’t see Kimi being too interested in a longer-term drive at Renault. I think it would be more of a stepping stone.
Sideshow Bob
18th September 2010, 1:35
Maybe if Renault aren’t too interested (reading Autosport; financial issues) some other team should sneak in and snatch him.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
18th September 2010, 1:49
He’s probably not interested in any other team. He won’t come back to F1 to be in a slow car, and the top teams are all tied up for next year already.
UneedAFinn2Win
18th September 2010, 9:03
Yes, well, Raikkonen is a Ferrari contracted driver this year, Alonso had a solid McLaren contract for three years in 2007, Button had signed on for Brawn(Mercedes) this year, Villeneuve had a rock solid contract for BMW until the end of 2006… and that’s just about World Champions.
Point is, “contracts” are worth the paper they are printed on in F1.
Prisoner Monkeys
18th September 2010, 9:52
Button didn’t actually sign on for Brawn this season. And even if he had, the purchase of the team by Mercedes would have given him the potential to move onwards if he chose to.
Contracts do actually have value. Each one will have exit clauses written into them so that a team or driver may decide to terminate it early provided that certain conditions are met. You’ll find that in the cases of Raikkonen, Alonso and Villeneuve in particular, exit clauses were activated.
When contracts become a problem, the FIA can intervene through the Contract Review Board. That’s what happened when Jenson Button signed on for Williams in 2006 and then opted out. He felt that Williams were unable to deliver the car they had promised, and the CRB agreed with him.
sato113 (@sato113)
18th September 2010, 0:20
nope, Lewis is still no.1 in the wet for me.
in 2010- he improved his q3 lap at spa on a dampening track. he did well in the rain in china and brilliantly in the wet in Australia.
but you only have to look at monaco and silverstone 2008 to see why.
Sideshow Bob
18th September 2010, 1:33
Who’s the best in the wet? Schumacher.
BBT
18th September 2010, 8:53
Surely that is ‘was’
Prisoner Monkeys
18th September 2010, 9:56
I think that, given a good enough car, Adrian Sutil could give him a run for his money. Remember that time when Sutil topped a wet practice session at Monaco in a Spyker?
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
18th September 2010, 10:32
Probably Hamilton, although Button and Alonso can excel in changeable conditions. Heidfeld isn’t bad either. I’d also like to see Sutil up the sharp end in a wet race, cos he’s proven on a number of occasions that he can handle a car in tricky conditions. His third on the grid at Brazil last year was a great effort as well.
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 10:27
“in 2010- he improved his q3 lap at spa on a dampening track”
As did Button but not by as much. The Mclaren is brilliant in the wet. I don’t think there’s any one stand out rain master anymore (maybe Schumi) as I can think of drivers who can be bloody quick in the wet but tend to make mistakes like Sutil and Hamilton or lack that raw pace but still excell like say perhaps, Vettel, Alonso and Button (who is probably the best at reading conditions).
Red Andy
18th September 2010, 11:07
Unlike Hamilton, Button has excelled in the wet in cars other than a McLaren (which has always been good in wet conditions). Remember Nurburgring 2007, where he went from about 16th to fourth in under a lap as the rain started to come down, with a massive load of fuel in that awful Honda? Unfortunately he threw it in the gravel once he got to the turn one lake but it was an epic performance nonetheless.
John H
18th September 2010, 11:43
Hamilton and Vettel’s drives at Monza 2008 are some of the best I can remember in recent times, so I’d like to say those, but Red Andy’s comments about Button are also spot on.
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 14:59
The best drive in the wet for me possibly ever (and mostly just because of lap 1) has to be Alonso’s at Hungary in 2006. It was painful to watch as a Ferrari fan but I just thought “ok, Alonso deserves this title just for that drive”.
Another stand out wet drive for me in recent times has to be Rubens in the Honda in 2008 at Silvertsone.
I know Webber probably isn’t as good in the wet as Vettel but he had a good drive in Mal in comparison to his teammate in 09, may the correct tyre decision in quali the next year and was very good in Nurburgring 07 so I don’t think he’s too shabby either but maybe not a stand out.
I agree with Red Andy about Button too.
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
18th September 2010, 13:52
IIRC Button also circulated in the points for a couple of laps at Fuji in 2007, sans front wing.
sato113 (@sato113)
18th September 2010, 0:24
in the last three races a Mclaren has retired in each, and all after qualifying 5th place on the grid.
Hamish
18th September 2010, 1:16
Heres an even better stat for you.
In the last 11 seasons McLaren have won one of the titles out of the 11 drivers championships and 11 constructors championships on offer, giving it a success rate of 4.5%
Jameson
18th September 2010, 1:41
Wrong. Since the 2010 season has not yet been completed, the last 11 seasons would be 1999 through 2009. During that period Mika Hakkinen won the WDC. Also, you are not taking into account the 2007 season where McLaren had the higher points total, but were disqualified. While the record books reflect otherwise, McLaren have taken, in spirit, 3 of 22 championships which would be 13.6%.
However, it is an asinine statistic considering the better part of the last 11 seasons were dominated by the Schumacher-Ferrari-Bridgestone regime. With this combination taking an astounding 68.8% of the past 11 seasons in which Schumacher drove (the first 8), or 50% of the entire 11 seasons.
Hamish
18th September 2010, 2:28
OK, slight error. Apologies.
Spirit means nothing, McLaren cheated, still a lacklustre 9%. Its still not a asinine statistic. They simply weren’t good enough or as witnessed in 2007 and 2008 either had internal fighting or one of the greatest chokes in recent sporting history.
Pretty sour grapes to takE away merit from an achievement because one team simply were better than the other.
Hamish
18th September 2010, 3:20
Only 2007, not 2008. I’m having a nightmare.
I have a crippling hangover.
Jameson
19th September 2010, 18:42
Spirit means everything when you are using past performance and results to gauge future performance, as Sato113’s original post was. Ignoring the results that McLaren had in 2007 when comparing them to Ferrari is like comparing apples to hand grenades.
Also, while it did sound a bit bitter, I wasn’t trying to take away the achievements of Ferrari and Schumacher. His tenure there was just so utterly dominant that it is difficult to even compare the other drivers and teams against them in that era.
Red Andy
18th September 2010, 11:11
McLaren didn’t win the constructors’ championship in 2007, even in spirit. Leaving aside the question of whether they would even have been able to compete for the 2007 championship without the benefit of Ferrari’s data (remember how poor their car was in 2006), the 15 points they were docked in Hungary for messing about in qualifying meant that they would have lost the constructors’ title by a single point to Ferrari, had they not been disqualified from the championship.
I also don’t really understand why committing the single worst piece of cheating in the history of Formula One should mean that McLaren deserved anything “in spirit” from 2007.
Charlie
18th September 2010, 13:54
Wait, are you talking about Alonso’s win in Singapore?
Red Andy
18th September 2010, 14:36
No, I’m talking about Spygate. Crashgate, as terrible as it was, only affected one race. Spygate influenced the whole of McLaren’s 2007 car development and probably quite a bit of 2008 (I know they were required to demonstrate to the FIA that none of Ferrari’s IP was on their 2008 car, but they couldn’t exactly unlearn what they had gleaned from Ferrari).
If Crashgate had not happened, the results of a single race would have been different (albeit with knock-on effects for the world championship). If Spygate had not happened, who knows how different 2007 and 2008 would have been?
Jameson
19th September 2010, 19:07
RA,
The 15 points from Hungary are accounted for in my previous post. I was merely using the actual performance of the drivers and cars to make a point in that McLaren actually haven’t performed that poorly over the past decade considering the generation that it covers.
I wasn’t trying to re-write history–it was a simple evaluation of the actual performance statistics.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
18th September 2010, 0:28
So jealous that the James Allen competition is only for UK residents. I put in a shout for you Keith. I can’t imagine a better ambassador for the collective fans of F1.
Dare I say Vettel’s trying to give Hamilton a run for his money in the radio comments?
I don’t know if I could definitively pick just one wet driver, but Hamilton’s certainly one of if not the very best.
James
18th September 2010, 1:00
“This is War” What a tune and a great backing to the footage FOM have released. IT would be awesome if they uploaded their highlights videos to youtube!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2010, 1:32
I’ve heard that apparently all Raikkonen said to Eric Boullier was “You have a good car”!
US_Peter (@us_peter)
18th September 2010, 1:50
Well his manager confirmed that there’d been discussions, so I’m guessing it’s a bit more than that.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2010, 3:01
Well, probably … but my point is, people are already assuming Raikkonen has been signed simply because it’s somehting they’d like to see happen. Back when Alonso was rumoured to be joining Ferrari, people were claiming he’d signed a contract with them at Bahrain in 2009 simply because Luca di Montezemolo walked past him on the grid.
Personally, I don’t think it will happen. I don’t think Raikkonen and Kubica would work well as a team, particularly with the way Kubica has fit in with them.
IDR
18th September 2010, 7:46
He said: “You have a very good car”
Yeah, bit more.
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 17:26
Maybe a little bit more…
Kimi: You have a good car
Eric: So you want to drive it then next year?
Kimi: *shrugs* maybe
Eric: You want to come back to F1?
Kimi *something inaudible*
Eric: What about rallying?
Kimi: It’s alright. *hangs up*
:P
Richard Smillie
18th September 2010, 2:06
I typically don’t like a ton of music-overed highlights. But that may have been the best race edits this year.
wasiF1
18th September 2010, 2:29
Kubica & Kimi’s lineup together in a team will probably the best in 2011, so Renault go for it.
rayan
18th September 2010, 4:13
is renault having any ideas to be competitive next year and planning to win races and championships??????
if answer is yes—-kimi and kubica are the only choice
if no——enough with kubica and vitaly
Zahir
18th September 2010, 7:48
It’s probably in F1’s best interests, or should I say Bernie’s best interests, that Petrov stays on at Renault. He wants a race in Russia and Petrov is the only way he will get it.
That added to the amount of money Petrov brings in I, unfortunately, can only see the same driver line up at Renault next season.
Calum
18th September 2010, 8:54
It’s true about the bumps though, remember Silverstone this year, it was all about the abbey bumps and they were hellish for drivers. They definately added a challenge.
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 9:30
“drier in the wet ” Sorry Keith but that typo amused me.
I don’t think Rai-Ren will happen personally. Everything looked like it was in place for him at Mclaren but he walked from that deal and I doubt he’s pining that much after the f1 lifetsyle. I have been massively wrong consistently when it comes to silly season though.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th September 2010, 12:20
Have now added the all-important ‘v’!
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 12:38
It was “v” important to the sentence :P Sorry! :)
rampante (@rampante)
18th September 2010, 9:31
There has been a lot of talk here about Kimi at Renault next year with kubica replacing Massa. A lot of talking going on atfer ‘events’ between Domenicali and Massa during and after Monza.
Maciek
18th September 2010, 9:44
FOM’s race edits – with all they have, the edits could be at least a bit longer and they could include more unusual camera angles. This one was fun, but like in pretty much all of them: the music – ugh, absolutely gut wrenchingly, hairs-standing-on-end cheesy. Sheesh, at least turn it down a notch compared to the sounds of the race. And is it really necessary to on top of that include some cheeseball saying “a lot of fast cars and fast women and it’s all going well” – what a tool.
Whitty 123
18th September 2010, 16:04
I love the FOM race edits they’re great. Maybe not so much the music. Remind me of trailers for films, and I agree I hate them asking a random celebrity a question when they quite clearly know nothing about the sport, for example when the BBC had whats his face out of Love Actually or something on the build up it was cringe worthy. But some of the camera shots they use are sublime and yet we never see them. They capture so much more than the racing, they capture the atmosphere at the track, and character of the circuits. Use these Mr. FOM!
Nathan Bradley
18th September 2010, 10:12
I’d just like to say good luck to all the people who’ve been nominated for James Allen’s prize. There were loads of people I wanted to nominate, but since I could only pick one, I nominated Cari, for excellent work while Keith was away at his wedding. Thanks Cari!
Good luck everyone,
Nathan
Nathan Bradley
18th September 2010, 10:45
Ooh, I just thought, I don’t know whether you have a driving license Cari, I hope so!
Nathan
Nik
18th September 2010, 10:23
Keith before I nominate you I have to ask what your fitness level is atm :)
Steve
18th September 2010, 11:02
We shouldn’t have to resort to bumps in order to make the track more challenging for the drivers. The track should be challenging enough on its own without bumps. All bumps do is prevent overtaking as the drivers simply cant risk trying to pull something off because they might be caught out by the bumps if they do.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th September 2010, 12:17
That’s just guesswork. Silverstone is bumpy and there was plenty of passing there this year. So was that street track Indycar used in Sao Paolo, plenty of overtaking there too.
Alex
18th September 2010, 12:58
Isn’t it that with the bumps there is more chance of a driver making a mistake? And a lot of overtaking happens when drivers make a mistake. Especially because the field is so close together.
Plus that 50 years ago drivers were willing to drive a gas tank with an engine bolted to it. I’m not asking them to do that again, but they should be able to handle some discomfort/danger.
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 14:54
Just nominated on JA’s excellent competition.
Keith I really wanted to vote for you as this site has been so incredible, has changed the way I think about F1, has allowed me to communicate with such wonderful fans and I know you put in a tremendous amount of work but you had a million nominations and I figure you get to see the drivers and cars more than most fanatics do so I chose to vote for a fellow fanatic who may not ever have an opportunity like this ever.
I seriously wish I could have voted for you all! I could easily real off the usernames who I’d nominate!
Good luck to you all and I hope someone on here wins it :) Plus if Keith wins it’s like we’re there in spirit sort of :P
Steph (@)
18th September 2010, 17:51
I stumbled upon this and thought it was a great little article about everything the pitstop crew go through and how they feel and cope with the pressure. Thought it was fascinating esp after what happened with HRt at Monza. http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ft22608.html
Steaky
19th September 2010, 10:13
Lewis Hamilton is the best driver in the wet but Schumacher would be my next bet