5 Drivers – 1 Title – Who Will be Champion? - Pt 2

Fernando Alonso is the next driver to be covered in this 5 part series.

Whatever your opinion on Alonso it is clear that he will go down in history as one of the great drivers of the era. He is a two times world champion and both titles were won during his stints at Renault. In the middle of the 2 stints at Renault was his infamous year at McLaren.

It is the year at McLaren that has done the most damage to Alonso's reputation in my opinion. He is often viewed as a cheat and a driver who likes to throw his toys out of the pram if things don't go his way. Doesn't this remind you all of a certain German driver who did all he could in order to win? I think it is important to point out the human element of the McLaren saga. Alonso had wanted to drive for Ron Dennis and ultimately McLaren since he was a little boy, much like Lewis. He went into the team hoping to impress Ron and become his number one. He just never counted on Lewis being his team mate nor Lewis having such a close bond so many of the team. Both drivers joined McLaren and achieved one of their dreams. Due to this only one driver was going to come out on top and unfortunately for Alonso this tended to be Hamilton that season. This was more due to Hamilton not having the pressure on him that Alonso had. Alonso went into the team expecting to win title number three and never achieved this. I think this will play on his mind for the foreseeable future.

Whatever happened during that year at McLaren (I don't think we will ever know the entire truth about that year) it is clear to see Alonso does have a slight problem with his team mate being faster than him. He also loves, and expects, to be the Number 1 driver in whatever team he is with. For this reason alone I think Alonso is the ideal Ferrari driver. Ultimately the pairing of Massa and Alonso are probably one of the most ideal partnerships they will have. Massa is the genuinely nice guy at the team who does what the team asks of him and Alonso is the type of driver who builds a team around him and has the ambition that will drive the team forward.

So what are the chances of this fiery driver winning his third title this season? Well this seasons car is a lot better than the Renault that he had last season so his stands a better chance this year. Although I think his best chance will come next season when he has more of a say with how the car is developed prior to the start of the season. I think next year we will start to see the cars being built around him more and more.

Unlike Jenson, Fernando can drive a car over and above its limits. This puts him in the minority of drivers on the grid. This talent also puts him in the realm of the greats. A great car plus Alonso will always be in contention for the title. This years car does not seem to be a 'great' though so somehow this year I don't see him winning as the Ferrari just doesn't seem capable of taking him to the title. Perhaps next year....

Pt 1 - Jenson Button

5 Drivers – 1 Title – Who Will be Champion? - Pt 1

The race for the World Drivers Championship is heating up. Over the next few posts I will attempt to cover the 5 drivers currently in contention and why I think they will, or won’t, win the championship.

Jenson Button

After years slogging it out in the lower half of the grid last season Jenson Button finally won the WDC. Last year with the BGP001Jenson finally had a car that was capable of winning the both the drivers and constructors championships. Who can forget the way Brawn rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the now defunct Honda F1 Team. However, it is important to realise that the car that Jenson, and indeed Rubens, was driving was not a Brawn car it was a Brawn car built with Honda money during Honda’s final season in F1.

Jenson won the first six races of last season and the second half of the season the performance of the BGP001 was lower than expected in comparison to its rivals. Brawn no longer had the money needed to develop the car in as aggressive a manner of some of the other teams and thus suffered. There is the argument that Jenson winning the title was down to the car and not the driver. Whilst I agree with this to a certain extent I think the car accounts for a decent proportion of a team’s ability to win any of the titles. Without a competitive car the driver stands little chance of winning races and ultimately the drivers and constructor championships.

I quite like Jenson’s boyish charms (and no this does not mean that I fancy him or think he is cute) but something just doesn’t sit right with me. I can’t put my finger on what it is but there is something. Undoubtedly he is a talented driver. He is one of the best drivers in terms of tyre conservation but his downfall, in my eyes, is his apparent inability to driver around a car’s issues. How many times have we seen the ‘great’ drivers drive around a car’s problems. Jenson has to have the car set up perfectly for him in order to allow him to race his best. However, drivers such as Alonso, Hamilton and Schumacher are able to drive the car over and above its limits, even if it isn’t set up 100% how they would like it.

Jenson is in with a chance to win this years championship but I somehow don’t see him achieving it. Granted this season he hasn’t been outclassed by Hamilton in quite the way that most people thought he would be. But is he in the same league as his team mate? Not quite.

Ferrari & Fernando Alonso

Ferrari has been called in front of the World Motorsport Council (WMSC) for their actions at the German GP. For those that can't remember, or need refreshing, Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to let Fernando Alonso pass. That is the short version. In reality there were the unforgettable radio messages that FOM broadcasted to the world to allow us all to hear what exactly was happening at Ferrari. Never have I heard an engineer so apologetic on the radio. Rob Smedley and Felipe Massa have such a close relationship it must have been hard for him to order his driver to pull over for a team mate.

Amongst the fans there was outcry at Ferrari's tactics but it is important to keep a level head in the matter. We all know that team orders exist in the sport but they are rarely so blatant as they were in Hungary. The anger amongst fans was probably more to do with how Ferrari treated the fans of the sport. We are not a stupid group of people but yet we were treated as such.

What was interesting to me was the reason given by Ferrari over the radio: Fernando is faster. Fernando was indeed faster over the weekend but I don't think he was faster within the race. If Fernando was noticeably faster than Felipe during the race then surely this would show in his sector times. As far as I could see Felipe was doing a good job on race day of matching Fernando's sector times.

Was Ferrari wrong to tell Massa to pull over? Yes and no. Yes, Fernando stands a better chance of winning the title for both Ferrari and himself. No, because team orders are banned in F1. My issue was with how they conducted the swap. Ferrari may have forgotten that their radio is no longer encrypted meaning that any and all radio transmissions can be broadcasted. Even so, I believe they could have used a better reason for swapping their drivers.

A side story of this sorry saga is the fact that this is the third time a team with Fernando as a driver has appeared before the WMSC within the last 4 years. McLaren were the first to be hauled in front of the WMSC in 2007 for the cheating scandal. Fernando was granted immunity for providing the WMSC with evidence of McLaren's apparent cheating. McLaren lost all their constructor points for that season and were fined $100milion. Next in line was Renault in 2009. Who can forget the now infamous Nelson Piquet crash in Singapore that handed Fernando the win? The fact that a driver was told to crash on purpose in order to benefit his team mate seemed like something from a Hollywood blockbuster. Sadly this wasn't a Hollywood blockbuster it was real life. Flavio Briatore was handed a lifetime ban from the sport (this has since been overturned) and Pat Symonds left Renault. Now Ferrari has been called in front of the WMSC for deploying team orders.

Does trouble follow Fernando or is he one of the instigators of the trouble? If I were a team manager I would be dubious about hiring Fernando as a driver. This is in spite of him being one of the great drivers in recent history. One thing is for sure (geddit?) the name Fernando Alonso will go down in history, but will it be for all the right reasons.

Twitter & F1

I joined Twitter in 2009 and I quickly learnt that to get the most from Twitter it is important that you interact with others. Without this interaction you will often find that you don’t build up any kind of relationship with the people you follow. Only following celebrities will also hinder the Twitter experience. In order to get the most from the site I think it worth finding something that you are interested in and then trying to find like minded people. Once you follow someone who you think is of interest to you then start a conversation with them. It is often best to think of Twitter of a giant room full of different types of people all with different interests. You need to search out the people who you would like to talk to or find a subject you want to talk about and form your own social circle around that. Much like you do in real life. It may take a while to get a nice circle of ‘friends’ but often the effort is worth it. Twitter is also, inevitably, a great way to people watch and eavesdrop on conversations. Companies are using it more and more in order to engage with their customers as the feedback they receive is quick and direct.

So who do I follow and why? Well I tend to interact with F1 fans more than any other sub group on Twitter. It is comforting to know there are other crazy people who love the sound and the spectacle of Formula 1 as much as me.

On the whole my experience has been a good one and one I would recommend to other fans. It is a great way to chat to other F1 fans as well as a unique way to interact with the teams as several of them have official accounts.  Members of the teams also have accounts and these unofficial accounts are often some of the more interesting to follow as they provide a greater insight into the sport and often post behind the scenes pictures.

During a race weekend it is common to find the bulk of people I actively follow, on Twitter at the same time and the banter is second to none. They have become an extended group of friends. We even stretch to making the odd virtual coffee round! Although this tends to happen more with the flyaway races as some of the sessions are on early on a morning. This means I have to drag myself out of bed and I often find myself wondering why I do this for a sport. It is comforting to know I am not the only one who tortures themselves for the sport.

However, lately Twitter does seem like it is a bit of a double edged sword at the minute. Whilst the fans are able to be open and free in their comments I think they are going a little too far at times and it seems to be getting a little personal with its comments about users and drivers. I don’t know if it is the dynamics of becoming a closer group that we let down our guard and we are more willing to type our thoughts than we would be to voice them in any other public arena. How many times have you sent a text, email or tweet and said something that you wouldn’t otherwise voice. I am not talking about a particular user but just a general feel of fans on a race weekend. I understand that emotions run high on a race weekend and that we all say offensive things at times but maybe it is time to think a little more before we type.

If you are wanting to find some fellow F1 fans or the official F1 feeds then either look through who I follow or simply search #F1 and you will stumble across loads of F1 fans who are on the whole a great bunch of tweeters.

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section or maybe even tweet me them :)

Belgium GP - It's raining... No it's not... Yes it is...

Well that was an eventful race wasn't it?

Spa delivered the kind of weekend we have come to know and love it for with its unique weather system playing its part in proceedings.  The rain provided some great action over the weekend. Qualifying was a bit of a mad dash at times as the teams fought to set a lap time before the rain became too heavy.

The race provided the major talking points though. Firstly, lets tackle the Rubens and Alonso incident. In my opinion it was an unfortunate racing incident. I am still not sure how the Ferrari of Alonso kept going after such a heavy impact. It is a testament to the safety of modern Formula 1. It was sad to see Rubens crash out on his 300th race. He really is one of the nicest guys on the grid, in my opinion. However I also feel this is part of the reason he hasn't won a championship...yet. Perhaps I am wrong but I don't think he has it in him to win the WDC despite him being a good F1 driver.

The major talking incident of the race was the Vettel and Button incident. Vettel lost grip when he attempted an overtaking manoeuvre and consequently took Button out of the race. Vettel was able to carry on the race without much damage to his car. Now the big question here is was it a racing incident or did it deserve a penalty? To me the drive-through was a sufficient enough penalty. Yes Vettel should not have tried the overtaking manoeuvre at that point if he felt the grip wasn't there, but it is important to take into account the weather at this race. The track was undoubtedly damp in places and maybe this added to the incident. I know many F1 fans, and particularly on Twitter, were very vocal with their opinion on the incident. A lot of it was a little too harsh but then I feel the F1 chat on Twitter is getting a little too personal anyway. That however is another post completely.

Vettel was then investigated for the incident with Liuzzi. He attempted to overtake Liuzzi and ended up with a sliced rear wheel after contact with Liuzzi's front wing. This raised one question in me: Is Vettel coping being at the sharp end of the grid? I don't doubt he is a good driver but he just seems a little immature at times. He is fighting for the Championship this year with a car more than capable of achieving it. Perhaps he is feeling the pressure of trying to win the Championship. You may point out that the hot-headedness has been there all season but then he has known all season he has the car to win the Championship. I just think he needs to calm down a bit and mature a little but that will only come with time. He is by no means a rookie but he is making the mistakes of rookie at the minute.

On a positive note is was great to see McLaren and Lewis win the race today. It's just a pity that it couldn't be a 1-2. One things for sure, this season is shaping up very nicely.

What are your thoughts on the incident packed race?

O2 Customer Service and the iPhone4

I have been undecided on whether to get the iPhone4 or not, mainly due to everywhere being sold out of them before I can get to a shop. Why does work have the nasty habit of getting in the way of me getting gadgets? Anyway O2 called me last week stating they had some iPhone4's in stock if I was still wanted one. Now this is where the adventure begins...

During the initial call I decided I would have the phone and I decided on the right contract for me and it had to be an 18 month contract and not a 24 month contract. All the details were confirmed to me over the phone and it was clearly stated that I would be getting the 18 month contract I wanted. On Monday I received an email from O2 stating that I had taken out a new contract along with the details on how much I would pay and the duration of the contract. Now imagine my surprise when I saw they had me down for a 24 month contract?! I duly rang O2 customer services and asked them to rectify their error. I was promptly told that the only way for the contract to be changed was for me to refuse delivery of the phone, ensure that the phone was sent back to O2. Once the phone was returned I would then have to cancel the contract and take out a new contract which would be for 18 months. It is safe to say I was not a happy bunny.

Whilst at work today whiling away the hours before clocking off I received a phone call from the courier asking if I was home so that he could deliver my 2 parcels. I told him I wouldn't be home until after 6.30 - he agreed to call back then. However, he decided to sign for the parcel in the meantime to allow him to complete his round. This meant I was unable to refuse delivery of the phone. Now before someone points out that I should have told him this on the phone I am also waiting on another parcel and I was unsure which parcel this was so I wanted to check before refusing delivery.

Since I was unable to refuse delivery I then called O2 again and asked what I was to do. After being told I had effectively agreed to the contract by signing for the phone, although it is not my signature on the Proof of Delivery. After trying to talk through the various hoops I would have to jump through in order for my contract to be changed to an 18 month contract I was passed through to the Upgrade department. Here I was able to speak to the lovely Liz who informed me that I would not have to return the phone to O2 and nor would I have to cancel the contract. Liz was informed me that she would be able to change my contract over to the correct 18 month contract I had initially asked for.

Now I am free to enjoy the iPhone4 as long as the reception holds out...

Silverstone - British GP 2010

I have been reminded on Twitter that I have not updated this blog since I set it up. So@unkn0wnvariable I duly take the hint.

Let's start with my weekend at Silverstone for the British GP...

A few tips for those attending the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

• Take advantage of the Friday & Saturday Roaming - On both days you are able to wander around and view the cars from any vantage point on the track. It is a great opportunity to get a feel of your surroundings as well as having the added advantage of bumping into some great fans along the way.
• Walk around the track - I have a tradition of walking around the track on a Friday during FP2. You are able to see the cars from every angle and in every corner. If you are wanting to get some photos of the cars then this is the best way of capturing the beautiful machines. A word of advice though - walk the track in an anti clockwise direction i.e. so the cars are coming towards you as opposed to them coming up behind you.
• Driver appearances - Drivers will make an appearance at a couple of the stands so try and find out which drivers will be where and when they will make an appearance. This year the Santander stand played host to the following personalities: Lewis Hamilton, Anthony Davidson, John Allen, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan (complete with purple trousers) plus more. The Vodafone stand had Jenson and Lewis on the Saturday after qualifying which was definitely worth the hour wait as both drivers were on top form. The Mercedes driving team (Schumacher, Rosberg and Heidfeld) made an appearance at one of the Mercedes merchandise stands.
• Talk to other fans - They are there because they love F1 as well so why not have a chat to some fans that are where you are sitting or as you are walking around.
• Watch the support events - There are many support races during the Silverstone weekend and it is a great way to see some up and coming motorsport stars.

Well those are some of my tips for attending the British GP but if you have any of your own then please feel free to add them to the comments section below.

I have uploaded some pics to Photobucket (link at the bottom of the post) but here are a select few from the weekend.

Lewis and Jenson @ the Vodafone Stand talking toilets, racing and bungee jumping...

DC at the Santander stand talking about a bit of everything including whether he and EJ actually get along

A reflection of a Ferrari in the pits (aka me trying to be arty)

Photos:

Friday at Silverstone

Saturday at Silverstone

Sunday at Silverstone