Another interesting one, but also somewhat confusing. For once, i was in a location where I had my laptop AND had reception, so could follow the live timing. That revealed some rather remarkable info.
For example, Webber was completely off the pace for almost the entire race. Most of the time he was nearly a second slower than the front runners, and when the Saubers came up to him, they just blew past and disappeared into the distance.
The commentators were all at sea as well, They were blabbing on about how fast the option tyres were at almost precisely the point when Kimi set an outrageously fast time on the harder tyres.
Unlike in Silverstone, many runners appeared to be badly affected by having the wrong setup - Maldonado, Grosjean, and Webber being a cases in point.
The race at the front however was great to watch. Seeing Jenson cruise up to Alonso (Hamilton assisted)made things very interesting up to the point when his engineer told him how to win. At which point he engaged reverse. You got the impression that Vettel was putting absolutely everything on the road and in my view that was one of the best races that i have seen him drive. I really don't like the little shit, but he is an outstanding talent. his pass on Jenson was wrong and he did himself no credit at all by making up an excuse in the way that he did. His team likewise should have told him to let Jenson by and have another go.
The problem is of course that both he and Hamilton seem to have this view that they have a level of entitlement beyond others. Hamilton's behaviour was ridiculous. Firstly in wanting to toss the toys out of the pram after the tyre problem, and then with that unlapping crap.
I absolutely support a driver's right to unlap themselves. If it is early in the race, and they have superior speed, and unlapping could lead to a points result, then fair go to them. What Hamilton did do was deliberately cause problems for the front runners when he could gain absolutely nothing for himself. The fact that the team then retired the car underlines the strategic nature of the exercise. Altogether, the incident was unpalettable and reeked of the worst excesses of the Todt TOIT era.
Did anyone notice that Vergne finished 1/10th of a second behind Ricciardo? Due to a flat tyre Vergne had a 3-stop race. After both had finished their last stops, Vergne was 14 seconds behind Ricciardo. Between them was Massa, who was nearly 12 seconds behind Riccardo. In the last 3 laps, Riccardo's times dropped like a stone and he was 4 seconds slower than the other two. Massa cruised past and Vergne very nearly got there. The Toro Rosso is a complete dog this year, but still the battle between the drivers is fascinating. Ricciardo is the faster in qualifying but shows way too little agression in the racing, and Vergne is the complete opposite.
How frustrating it must be for Sauber that they regularly circulate the middle and latter parts of races with the fastest car on the track, but can't get up the front? They were immensely fast in this one, but track position at the beginning was their undoing. Alonso is a pretty smart guy, and he knew that this result for him was a matter of getting to front, and putting in consistent, and tyre-saving laps, against the Red Bull behind that had to be driven way up to the limit to stay in touch.
Speaking of Fredo, why are his misdemeanor's left unchallenged? His qualifying lap was hugely assisted by having almost 4 wheels offf the track on the second to last turn, and he used that trick a number of times in the race when Vettel and Button got close. There is a huge advantage from doing this as it greatly affects the speed that is carried on to the main straight. not a peep out of anyone about that though, and methinks maybe too much reverence for his driving skills prevents that which ought to be scrutinised, from being scrutinised.
Comments
Ferrari International Assistance? I, too, remember the worst excesses of the Todt era.
Between the years 1851 and 1868 there was a major gold rush in Australia. During this period, the population of Australia trippled.
Endeavouring to cash in on the money to be made the Governments of the colonies of Victoria and New south Wales exacted high licensing fees ( 1 pound per month, regardless of success)from miners. The licence fees were seen by the miners as a form of taxation without representation (sound familiar). This basic grievance, exacerbated by a number of catytic events in the region of Ballarat Victoria, which themselves were seen as examples of a corrupt police/military/judiciary, led to an uprising known as the Eureka Stockade Rebellion.
This was an armed uprising that started with the orgnaisation of some 2,000 men, including American Paramilitaries from California. They swore an oath and erected a flag designed by one of their number. Due to the course of events, only about 150 men were actually in the stockade on the day that the Army attacked. After a brief skirmish of around 10 minutes, the Army prevailed and total fatal casualties after the event were around 28 (22 miners and 6 military).
As an uprising it was a bit of a shambles.
What it led to however was somewhat extraodinary. The publication of the events around the skirmish and the actions of the military in rather violently putting down the uprising when they had far superior numbers and weapons was recieved across the country as something of a last straw. By now in reality, there were too many people, too much industry, and too much generational ownership for the colonies to remain governed as they were.
Various democratic acts were passed that progressively passed more suffrage to more of the population and led ultimately to referenda in each of the colonies then consistent that successfully established the Commonwealth of Australia as a federation of states in 1900.
The actual flag under which those original rebels swore an oath of alleginace is colloquially known as the Eureka Flag and remains the symbol of Republican minded Australians (as well a whole bunch of kooks who try regularly to hijack its significance) to this day.
The picture below is taken from the remnants of that actual flag which remains in a museum in Victoria.
Fast forward to the recent past and the web location of my original signature flag disappeared and I had to find another. In an effort to find a low-byte version, I found one that was too big. some comments were passed in this place, which itself resulted in one member, in the very worst expression of palgarism, appended a similarly designed version to his signature (remember the kooks I noted above, and me replacing the replacement version with one that had actual historic significance.
There was some further disruptive input by a well-known Royal appologist hereabouts, and we wait now only for the usurper to become tired and remove his version.
None of this will cahnge the fact that I was born 58 years after federation and will die no-one-knows how many years before a true Republic is established in this country.
Fun while it lasted. You should visit more often.
Ship needs a Captian RJ.
Thanks to your now somewhat silent support, this place remains a haven where views on F1 can be exchanged without the irritating noise of fanboys and children.
There are even the odd one or two from days gone by popping in occasionally.
There must be way of getting FM.com into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest unofficial supporters club of a defunct sporting team???????