Is there too much nepotism in motor racing?

Is there too much nepotism in motor racing?

We've all heard about Nelson Piquet. Close followers of GP2 will be familiar with the name Bruno Senna. Rosberg and Nakajima all have racing driver dads. What's going on? Is nepotism rife in F1?

The arrival of Bruno Senna in motor racing has predictably excited some press interest in recent years.

The specialist media have followed his path through Formula BMW, F3 and GP2 closely.

Now, as F1 teams start to take serious interest in him, the international media are waking up to the man whose blood relation to the late Ayrton Senna could make him the most marketing-friendly F1 signing since Lewis Hamilton.

Sons and nephews of famous former motor racing drivers getting into the sport themselves is nothing new. (Daughters and nieces doing it is much rarer). But does too much of it go on?

F1 today already has the sons of Keke Rosberg, Satoru Nakajima and Nelson Piquet. Add Bruno Senna next year and a fifth of the F1 grid would be immediate descendants of previous drivers.

Having a famous surname can be a help or a hindrance. Nelson Piquet Jnr never had to worry about finding a team to run him in Formula 3 or GP2, because he always drove for his dad's team.

Bruno Senna, however, was kept from racing for nine years after his uncle Ayrton was killed in 1994. But the younger Senna will surely have found that with his name comes sponsors and benefactors - like Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger.

Meanwhile other drivers without the connections get left on the sidelines. Scottish racer Paul di Resta beat Sebastian Vettel in the Formula Three Euroseries in 2006 (the same championship Hamilton won the previous year) but his single seater career went no further.

Formula 1 is already desperately short of seats - 10 teams is a miserable number for the world's premier motor racing series. They should be going to the very best drivers, not just the ones with the familiar eyes and the PR-friendly surnames.

I say this not to disparage the skills of Bruno Senna or Nelson Piquet Jnr or the rest. But with billions of possible racing drivers in the world, when so many of the few that make it into F1 happen to be famous sons and nephews, perhaps team bosses are paying too much attention to family trees.

Gulf Want Bahrain GP On Saturday

people who live around Bahrain, and many officials connected with the event would like the race to move to Saturday and be raced on a Saturday afternoon instead of a Sunday because in the Gulf Sunday is a normal working and school day.

The provisional date of the 2009 event is Sunday 19th April, the first day of Summer term for pupils in Bahraini schools, leading the principal of St Christopher's School to delay the start of term so he and children can watch the race.

"We consider that F1 should, in future years, consider a Saturday date for race days in Muslim countries and hope that some consideration might be given to this by the worldwide F1 body," St Christopher's School Principal Ed Goodwin is quoted as saying by Gulf Weekly.

Similar problems were encountered in Qatar with the MotoGP however these have now been dispelled with the race being run under floodlights at night.

Martin Whittaker, CEO of Bahrain circuit reckons it is highly unlikely the date would ever move to a Saturday.

"The FIA and Formula One have for many years worked towards continuity in qualifying and race day timings. Moving the race to a Saturday would cause many, many problems for the organisers of the championship - not least in global television schedules" he commented.

F1 Drivers' Wives & Girlfriends Are Models, Singers, Beauty Queens

Getting a pop-star girlfriend seems to be a growing trend among Formula One's top race drivers.

Former double world champion Fernando Alonso is married to Spanish singer Raquel Rosario, and high-profile championship leader Lewis Hamilton is known to be dating Nicole Scherzinger, one of the American pop quintet Pussycat Dolls.

But it doesn't end there. Honda's Jenson Button recently split with his model girlfriend Florence Brudenell-Bruce, and has now been photographed out in London with Kelly Rowland, a successful former member of the highly-popular Destiny's Child girl-group.

Elsewhere, 1998 and 1999 world champion Mika Hakkinen has separated from his ex-wife Erja and is currently holidaying in St Tropez with new girlfriend Marketa Kromotova, a 30-year-old dancer and stripper, according to the Cologne newspaper Express.

"I have an exciting new life with Marketa," retired Hakkinen, 39 - now sporting a tattoo in Chinese characters on his right arm - said.

Meanwhile, proving that friendships within the paddock are possible, reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen - married to former Miss Scandinavia Jenni Dahlman - often organises a game of friendly tennis near his home with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, the Swiss newspaper Blick claims.

The Glorious Cycle

Half of the field that took the green light in Germany had never raced an F1 car round Hockenhiem before. Martin Brundle, a former F1 driver 14214w2216o commentating for ITV, Britain's F1 broadcaster, came out with that fact during the coverage of qualifying for the race.

At first it seems a little impossible, but when you factor in the new rotation system for the German Grand Prix, between Hockenhiem and the Nurburgring, which means the last Hockenhiem race as in 2006, the background for the change is set. I started to try and remember the drivers who had driven in the 2006 race and were still there; Raikkonen, Massa, Heidfeld, Alonso, Rosberg, Coulthard, Webber, Trulli, Fisichella, Button and Barichello. 11 out of the 20 drivers. F1 has had 9 new driver in the last 2 years, a phenomenal turnover for the top tier of any sport.

But why has there been such a massive shift, and what does it mean for F1, and motorsport in general. Why have drivers moved on, or in some cases been pushed on as the new drivers make their way up the formulae ladder to F1. At first, if you look at the places where the 9 missing driver, and their replacements, have gone to, and come from, the picture is incredibly positive for wider racing. This is because while some of the drivers from 2006 have moved out of the driver's seat and into other positions in F1 - Schumacher, Michael, still makes a nuisance of himself at Ferrari and Christian Klien is now a test driver for BMW - many others have moved to other forms of motorsport.

Montoya, made his much maligned move to NASCAR, where Jacques Villeneuve, BMW's second driver in 2006, tried, and has so far failed to join him. They both had a year head start on Scott Speed who has made the jump to the series, running (and winning) in the Craftsman Truck series. Jacques instead seems to have found a home in the Le Mans Series' Peugeots, a team that also includes Alex Wurz, not an F1 driver in 2006, and for the Le Mans 24 Hours the before mentioned Klien. Tiago Monteiro tried his hand in the World Touring Car Championship with Seat, with Schumacher, Ralf, following his lead into tip top racing with a move to Germany's DTM series.

Their replacements equally span the spectrum of international motor racing. Of course a majority come from F1's de facto feeder series - GP2 - which although the FIA don't like it is going from strength to strength. Sebastian Vettel came from the World Series by Renault via being Kubica's relief driver after his Montreal accident last year. Kubican himself came through the same series, winning the championship in 2005. Vettel's fellow Sebastian, and team mate, Mr (Monsieur) Bourdais, moved to F1 after serving probably the longest single seater apprenticeship in history, including four titles in the American (and now defunct) Champ Car World Series.

This all shows the strength in depth in motor racing is incredible. All the series mentioned are top series all with very talented drivers. But is this good for F1? In all this competition is F1 still the pinnacle of motorsport? As a pinnacle drivers who leave should never move 'up', and I struggle to imagine that any of the drivers who moved on after 2006 could realistically argue they had moved up. F1 is still the most expensive, most technologically advanced, and crucially most watched racing in the world. The drivers are paid the most. International media focus on it more. Discounting America, I still believe that car mad little boys want to be in F1, not the Le Mans Series, Touring Cars or NASCAR. But is the speed at which these little boys make it to F1, and the turnover of drivers it creates, de-valuing it? You watch the top levels of a sport to see the best, most experienced, skilled people in the sport, not a crèche for new kids. I'm not saying the newcomers aren't good, but is it getting easier to get into F1?

Well, probably. But it might not be a bad thing. In decades past new F1 drivers dripped in from different series around the world, a fact that is still true today, as mentioned earlier. However, F1 now has a very strong feeder series, stronger than the old F3000 ever seemed to be. GP2 creates a pool of almost ready made F1 drivers that can be snapped up by a team and promoted quickly into a race seat. The increase in mass media coverage of other series may make it easier to source drivers from other series, while the increase in huge sponsorship portfolios (this means you Red Bull) can help to forge links between F1 teams and up and coming drivers. You still have to be good to drive in F1, but it is easier to get seen when you are.

But why, if F1 is still at the pinnacle of the sport do drivers move on, presumably taking a massive cut in pay. Well obviously there is the pressure. Being an F1 driver is a lot more than the 3 hours you or I see every race weekend. There's the fact that you're travelling most of the year, perpetually under scrutiny - ask Kimi about his night club problem from a few years ago - there's sponsor commitments and heaven knows what else. Perhaps the drivers who move away from F1 simply want to slow down, while keeping going fast on the track. That is another factor. The series that many ex-F1 drivers move to are just as fast (if not faster) and just as competitive (if not more so) than F1. The drivers in all the series mentioned before are the best at what they do, the fields of both the DTM and Le Mans racing have long been competitive homes for old drivers - Peugeot's Le Mans team included 9 drivers - 8 of whom had Grand Prix race experience. The out going F1 drivers are not simply retiring to a pipe and slippers.

The two way movement of drivers to and from F1 has always been a factor. Mansell jumped to Indycar after winning the World Championship, which gave F1 Andretti and Zanardi, Allan McNish is another in the Le Mans series (this time American), Jean Alesi and Mika Hakkinen have both run in the DTM, where Christian Albers ran before Midland signed him, and which currently acts as a holding pond for Mercedes' development drivers - Gary Paffett, Paul Di Resta and Jaime Green for example.

This movement means more fans for F1, more fans for the series where F1 drivers go and F1 drivers come from. Long may the glorious cycle continue.

Author James Broomhead

A Street Track Named Desire

Imagine the scene, a 1950's or 60's Formula One driver is threading the needle between houses and trees up a winding hill at a speed, that even in a still, grainy black and white photo you can tell is unsafe. There are no wings on the car, which is front engine and free from the wind-tunnel-tuned aerodynamic widgets of today, fire retardant clothing is in its infancy (if it exists at all), and mention safety and people will look at you like you've insulted their mother. It's all completely different to what we see in F1 (or any other racing series for that matter) today.

Or is it?

Look a little harder. Where is this driver? AVUS? Spa? Brno? Rouen? What are they all? Street circuits.

Ah yes, the street circuit, like the uncle no one knows who he's related to, they sit in the dark corner of F1 racing, and no-one knows quite what to do. In decades past, they have been a pivotal point of the F1 calendar.

In the early decades, tracks around rural roads made up many of the tracks early Grand Prix drivers pitted their wits against. They were huge wandering beasts rattling though villages using roads identical to those used by the general public. But as safety concerns increased, along with the availability of purpose built closed course tracks, these original street circuits found themselves having to change or die.

Spa changed into the track that now bears its name. Brno changed. Rouen and AVUS died, replaced by newer facilities or left to the public.

But street circuits soldiered on, both in F1 and other racing series. But the trials of safety had hemmed them in, along with the confines of city streets that now hosted them. (In)famous American examples in Detroit, Phoenix, and Las Vegas show what a disaster these new street tracks could be. Dull, featureless, straight-90 degree turn-straight-90 degree turn-repeat to fade affairs that were unpopular with drivers and fans alike.The story abounds, urban myth like, that an Ostrich Festival in Phoenix drew bigger crowds than the city's final F1 race.

That sums up what they were like.

But is 2008 the year of the return of the street circuit?

Well, not really.

The venerable Monaco aside, there have always been two street circuits in F1 in recent years: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal and Albert Park Melbourne. But this year, they are joined by two more, the new venue of the European GP, round Valencia's port/harbour and the track set to host F1's first night race in Singapore.

But are they really street tracks? Let's look at the evidence. Street tracks provide some of the best racing to watch. The close confines of the barriers demand a driver's permanent attention and instantly punish those who even think of putting a foot wrong.

A good street circuit doesn't make overtaking impossible, only a more skillful approach. For those who don't believe me, watch an Australian V8 Supercars race round the old F1 venue in Adelaide, or any race round Nuremburg's Norisring. They produce great races.

I'm sure anyone who watched the parade around Valencia will agree that was not great racing. The track was good, especially the final blast round the sweeping corners, but the racing wasn't.

Why? Well, here is not the place to open the age-old overtaking in F1 debate. Could it be that it wasn't really a street track? Did you notice that there were no white lines down the middle of the track? No. 

Did you think that Valencia would allow the ubiquitous Hermann Tilke to redesign their street layout for his track? No. Did you notice the gigantic pastures of safety tarmac where walls would be on a real street circuit? Yes. Valencia was a modern closed course track pasted round a supposedly picturesque setting. Did you ever notice gravel traps, let alone multi coloured ones, on the way to your local shops. No? Well you clearly don't live in Melbourne, because they do there, surrounding their street circuit. The tracks are closed courses in all but names. None of the permanent barrier dodging, nothing different from anything else.

And it doesn't look set to change much either, despite Bernie's wish to have F1 cars racing round Paris or London, both are probably unworkable, meaning were stuck with Monaco and the pretenders to the street circuit title.    

Picture the scene, a lone Ferrari is flashing across the harbour bridge in Valencia. How things change in 50 years.

Author James Broomhead

A Different Vision of F1

A few days ago, John Beamer asked whether there is a site that lists each drivers lap times throughout a race. What came to mind immediately is an unusual and little-known website called Vision F1 (VisionF1.com) It gives replays of GPs in graphic form, little labeled dots representing the drivers going around the circuit.

That probably sounds a bit primitive and, the site having been in existence a while, it does have a retro look and feel, but in practice it is nothing short of brilliant. By looking down on the track one can get a much better understanding of what is happening throughout the field. Say a battle develops between two midfield runners - you're not bound by some TV director's need to slavishly follow the leader; you can watch the fight exclusively until resolved.

It is also an excellent way of examining a driver's performance throughout the race. Some time ago I watched Speed's drive at Istanbul 2006 and was surprised at how fast he was going; did you realize he spent the entire race passing Kubica and then having to pass him again after pit stops?

A very important factor is that you can increase the speed of the replay, thereby avoiding having to watch for over an hour and a half. I took it as high as 20x, searching for the maximum, but things are happening so fast at that speed that it's useless for practical purposes. Six times actual speed is a good compromise, cutting the time element quite drastically but still allowing you to see what is happening.

There are several other options available and various statistical information on other pages; this is where you'll find the lap times for individual drivers, the information that John required. But the preservation of races going back as far as the German GP of 2005 is the most important factor, I think. It is such a useful facility for the history of F1 and I hope it continues for as long as GP racing does. YouTube is great but video can only record what the camera happens to be looking at (and for the brief period before Bernie takes the clip down); Vision F1 is a full account of the whole race.

Have a look at the site and play a bit. If you love F1, I'm sure you'll agree that this is an excellent resource.

The Curse of the Commentator

Murray Walker is an icon of Formula One, and brought a great many things to the sport. Wendi Nisbet takes a look at one of his enduring - and less endearing - legacies, the "Commentator's Curse" to see if there really is any such thing.

Imagine if you will, that you are a GP driver. You are having the race of your life. You are so in tune with the car it feels like you are no longer man and beast, but a single entity. The two of you move together in a passionate pas de deux, setting the world on fire behind you. You are only a few laps from the end of the race - you know you have it in the bag, and can already taste the champagne on the podium.

And then, it all goes horribly wrong. As you struggle to realise what has happened - one minute you were eyeballing miles of empty asphalt in front of you as you cruised to the chequered flag, the next you are struggling to remove a tyre barrier from your facial extremities.

"What the - ?" you splutter into your visor, before the horrible realisation slowly dawns. One of the myraid of commentators watching the race has recently praised your efforts. You have been struck by the "Commentators Curse

The Commentators Curse is a phenomenon widely believed to have been pioneered by legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker. He would be passionately enthusing about a driver, only to have the hapless victim crash or retire with a failure the next lap. In fact, at one stage this was occuring so frequently that several of the drivers approached him, and asked him to refrain from mentioning them during the race !

Of course this curse is not unique to F1, nor even to motorsport in general. But few sports are as unforgiving as F1. In football - you miss a goal, you can try for another. No big deal. But in F1, when it all goes wrong it generally does so in a spectacular and very final way. The curse of the commentator can be fatal.

Although Murray has long since retired from commentating on F1 races, his curse lives on. One infamous - and recent - example is the following quote from ITV's James Allen during the 2007 Brazil GP, when referring to Lewis Hamilton he said "He's not had a mechanical failure all year, which is remarkable, but he has had three strokes of bad luck: the tyre mistake in Germany, the tyre failure in Turkey and the tyre disaster in China." Shortly afterwards Hamilton was seen slowing, after an unexplained mechanical issue. The curse of the commentator strikes again!

One can argue Allen should have known better - after all his sidekick Martin Brundle made the following remark on his pre-race grid walk at the 2007 Monaco GP "I daren't talk to Lewis. I think Lewis would talk to us, but I'm so nervous of talking to him and then him going straight in the wall and it all being blamed on ITV."

And this offering during the race "Lewis is gonna have to find something else, but, hey, five starts ... (he hesitates) ... Let's not put the commentator's curse on it. Let's talk about it later after the race!"

You know it's real when highly paid commentators - people whose job it is to talk about the race as it happens - are scared to invoke the curse. I do not know how the curse came into existance, or why, but we need to get it lifted. And quickly.

A guide to global television coverage of Formula One

By Scott

I've noticed some discussion in the Formula One blogosphere recently about how the sport is covered by the various worldwide television broadcasters. As I result, I'm going to provide a brief overview of how the land lies in some key markets. If you have any information about countries I haven't listed, then please leave a comment below, and I'll amend the posting later in the week.

One country I haven't mentioned is the United Kingdom. The reason for this is that I plan to write a couple of more detailed posts, looking at Formula One television coverage in the UK, over the next week or so.

Catalonia - TV3 provides live coverage, and has been a longtime supporter of Formula One. They had been the host broadcaster of Grand Prix at Barcelona, up until Formula One Management took over responsibilities in 2007. Even when no nationwide coverage was available in Spain, TV3 broadcast Formula One live in Catalonia. Their loyalty hasn't been valued by FOM, though, and the television rights to Formula One within Catalonia will transfer exclusively to the Mediapro Group in 2009, who will broadcast races on their La Sexta channel. As La Sexta transmits only in Spanish, those within Catalonia will no longer have the option of watching Formula One races in Catalan.

France - The rights are owned by Groupe TF1, and broadcasting is usually split over two channels. Eurosport France shows live coverage of all practice sessions, and offers delayed coverage of both qualifying and the races. Usually, live coverage of the races is broadcast TF1, although the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix was televised live of Eurosport France, with TF1 providing coverage of Euro 2008 at the same time.

Germany - Coverage is split between three broadcasters, offering the most comprehensive Formula One coverage of anywhere in the world. Free-to-air broadcaster DSF televises both Friday practice sessions live, in addition to delayed coverage of qualifying and the races. RTL (Germany's largest free-to-air broadcaster) shows both qualifying sessions and races live. Finally Premiere, a pay-TV platform, offers a complete live and interactive service - of practice, qualifying and the races - with a choice of six screens.

Italy - State-owned Rai Uno televise races live, whilst qualifying is shown live on Rai Due. SKY Italia, meanwhile, provide a similar service to German pay-TV company Premiere.

Spain - Traditionally Formula One coverage has been limited in Spain. With the likes of Alex Criville and Carlos Sainz enjoying success in motorcycle racing and rallying respectively, Formula One struggled to hold much interest in the country. However, with two Spanish drivers set to compete in 1999, public service broadcaster TVE came to an arrangement with TV3 (who held the rights for Spain, but only broadcast in Catalonia) which allowed them to televise Formula One. More recently, coverage has been shown on Telecinco, and will switch to La Sexta in 2009.

United States - Speed has been the primary broadcaster for Formula One in the United States for some time. The channel has tailored its coverage towards more knowledgable fans, an approach that has earned Speed a great deal of respect. Their line-up of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor is generally very highly regarded. Speed, however, has a limited audience reach, so FOM is keen to increase the amount of network TV coverage the sport receives. This year, the Canadian, French, British and German races were broadcast live exclusively on Fox Sports (part of the same media group as Speed). During the 2002 season, a limited number of races were broadcast of ABC, using F1 Digital+ commentators Ben Edwards and John Watson. Although in Europe they are often acknowledged as being amongst the very best Formula One broadcasters, their commentary was not well received in the US.

Some interesting info about F1 cars:

01. F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!

02. Formula 1 cars have over a kilometre of cable, linked to about 100 sensors and actuators which monitor and control many parts of the car.

03. F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!

04. F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO....thats the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...

05. When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph !!!

06. An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah thats right!!!)

07. At 605kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.

08. In F1 car the engine typically revs upto 19000 rpm,(the piston travelling up and down 300 times a second!!) wheres cars like the palio, maruti 800,indica rev only upto 6000 rpm at max. Thats 3 times slower.

09. The brake discs in an F1 car have an operating temperature of approx 1000 degees Centigrade and they attain that temp while braking before almost every turn...that is why they r not made of steel but of carbon fibre which is much more harder and resistant to wear and tear and most of all has a higher melting point.

10. If a water hose were to blow off, the complete cooling system would empty in just over a second.

11. Gear cogs or ratios are used only for one race, and are replaced regularly to prevent failure, as they are subjected to very high degrees of stress.

12. The fit in the cockpit is so tight that the steering wheel must be removed for the driver to get in or out of the car. A small latch behind the wheel releases it from the column. Levers or paddles for changing gear are located on the back of the wheel. So no gearstick! The clutch levers are also on the steering wheel, located below the gear paddles.

13. To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added downforce can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

14. Without aerodynamic downforce, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.

15. The amount of aerodynamic downforce produced by the front and rear wings and the car underbody is amazing. Once the car is
travelling over 160 kph, an F1 car can generate enough downforce to equal it's own weight. That means it could actually hold itself to the CEILING of a tunnel and drive UPSIDE down!

16. In a street course race like the monaco grand prix, the downforce provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

17. The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 litres of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 litre family car.They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.

18. TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. It took me 8 sec to read above point ( no.17).

19. Race car tyres don't have air in them like normal car tyres. Most racing tyres have nitrogen in the tyres because nitrogen has a more consistent pressure compared to normal air. Air typically contains varying amounts of water vapour in it, which affects its
expansion andcontraction as a function of temperature, making the tyre pressure unpredictable.

20. During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.

21. Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km (That's Khandala and back from Mumbai).

22. A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C Water boils boils at 100C remember) At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

The ten most spectacular F1 crashes over the last 10 years.

We all love a good crash, and in this article we reminisce about some of the more spectacular ones that occurred in the past decade. The fact that all the drivers walked away is a great tribute to the safety standards in Formula 1.

What exactly is it we love so much about Formula One? Is it the speed? The cars? The drivers? The technology and innovations? Well yes of course it is, but let's be honest with ourselves here. We also love to see a good crash. The more carnage the better, with bits of carbon fibre spearing off, tyres going every which way, and the remnants of an F1 car skulking in the tyre barriers.

We cheer with schadenfreude when the crash takes out a driver we are not so keen on and, conversely, we cry when it is our man out of the race. We shout at the TV in frustration, and shake our fists. We clap and cheer. We hold our breath and cross our fingers that no one is hurt. We watch the replay avidly, hungry for every last gory detail. We discuss them ad nauseam.

It's part of the spectacle, the fun and the excitement. Where would F1 be without a crash or two? So here I have put together my pick of the "The ten most spectacular crashes in the last ten years".

10. Alex Wurz Canada 1998
As so often is the case with spectacular crashes, this one took place on the opening lap of the race when Wurz was squeezed out by other cars in the midfield onto the grass. This meant he was unable to brake in time and rejoined the track at speed, only to crash into Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, and Jarno Trulli, sending Wurz into a barrel roll which rotated the car 3 times. The race was red flagged, and all parties were able to re-start the race in either the spare car, or their own repaired cars. This crash was just the spectacular start of an incident packed race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlY2FT5lO_E

9. Fernando Alonso Monaco 2004
Who could forget this crash, and 'the finger'? On lap 28 of what was fast becoming a race to remember, Alonso attempted an ill advised pass on a lapped Ralf Schumacher in the tunnel. He got offline and speared heavily into the wall, sparking a brief flash fire before sliding out of the end of the tunnel past Schumacher and minus his front wing, wheels and various other bits of the car. A clearly unhappy Alonso then gestured to Schumacher, letting him know in no uncertain terms what he was thinking!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PfLVwqxJ-M

8. Pedro Diniz Europe 1999
A delayed start, with Alex Zanardi and Marc Gene out of sequence on the grid, which necessitated another formation lap. When the lights went green, and racing began Damon Hill's Jordan suffered an electrical failure leaving him slowing on the grid. As Alex Wurz swerved around Hill, he crashed heavily into Diniz, sending him into a barrel roll, before skidding across the grounds upside down. The monocoque was heavily damaged and Diniz was barely visible underneath the car as it slid to a halt, waving his hands for help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3mJacecaBw

7. Kimi Raikkonen Europe 2005
There have been more impressive crashes. There have been more involved crashes. There have been more dangerous crashes. But has there ever been such a suspenseful one? It looked like the race was in the bag for Kimi - he overtook pole sitter Nick Heidfeld on lap one and was never seriously challenged, at one point he even had a fifteen second lead to second placed man Alonso.

But a mistake on lap 30, going wide into the Ford chicane saw Raikkonen damage his bargeboard. This was compounded a couple of laps later when Kimi flat spotted his front right tyre whilst lapping Jacques Villeneuve. During that year drivers were not permitted to change tyres, so Raikkonen had to continue with the flat spotted tyre which set up clearly visible vibrations throughout the car and suspension, making it increasingly difficult to drive. Raikkonen's lead was reduced to just under three seconds and as the race drew to a close it looked like he was going to hold on, keeping a charging Alonso at bay. At home on the couch we hardly dared move, frozen to the spot wondering if he'd make it. However under braking at turn one on the very last lap the suspension failed, spinning him off the race track - past a surprised Jenson Button - into the gravel trap and handing the win to a very happy Alonso.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAgvS61J89U

6. Luciano Burti Germany 2001
Another one of those patented first lap crashes that we love so much. This time it was reigning world champion Michael Schumacher who was slow to get away off the start line. Burti coming up behind was clearly not expecting a slower moving car and launched off the back of Schumacher's Ferrari, vaulting over the top of him and several other cars in front of Schumacher, before flipping back to right side up and skidding along the gravel trap. The race was red flagged at that point, and both drivers were able to make the restart in their spare cars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXavodrDEpg

5. Fernando Alonso Brazil 2003
This was a turn out for the books, with the wettest race we had seen in some time and actually started under safety car. It was also notable for the fact that only two drivers stood on the podium afterward - Giancarlo Fisichella and Kimi Raikkonen (third placed man Alonso was on route to hospital) and they were later found to be standing on the incorrect steps !

Rain fell steadily throughout the race, leading to several offs and a myriad of safety car interventions. On lap 54 Mark Webber's Jaguar crashed heavily while exiting the final corner, spinning him into retirement. Yellow flags were waved, but an approaching Alonso did not slow quickly enough, and clipped some of the debris from Webber's stricken car which was strewn about the track. His race thus ended in a car-destroying shower of carbon fibre, tyre bundles and a frightening whack into the concrete wall. After the two incidents, there was too much debris on the track for racing to continue and, as 75% of race distance had been completed, the race was called to a halt, handing Fisichella his maiden F1 win (although at the time Stewards mistakenly awarded that honour to Raikkonen after confusion over the ruling).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwvxdWxyAAc

4. Robert Kubica Canada 2007
One of the most severe crashes in the history of F1, with Polish driver Robert Kubica being subjected of forces up to 75G in a crash that totally destroyed his car, leaving his feet clearly visible hanging out of the end of the wreck.

The incident occurred on lap 26, just after a safety car period had finished following an earlier accident involving Adrian Sutil.

On the approach to the hairpin the BMW-Sauber of Kubica just clipped the rear wheel of Jarno Trulli's Toyota, sending him onto the grass and out of control. The car briefly became airborne after hitting a bump, before firing into the safety barrier, and then ricocheting off across the track and flipping into the barrier opposite. Most of the car was destroyed in the first impact - sending a shower of parts across the track - before what was left of it skidded on its side, finally coming to a halt. A testament to the safety of modern F1 cars, as Kubica escaped this mighty collision with only a sprained ankle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PcFHTmhtHA

3. Giancarlo Fisichella Monaco 2004
This race was always going to be an interesting one, with two aborted start attempts before we even got to see any green flag racing. When it finally was all systems go, Takuma Sato got a fantastic start, streaking from eighth place to fourth. He then put in a blistering couple of laps before his engine expired on lap 3 in a spectacular and extremely smokey fashion. The plumes of smoke billowing out of the back of his car meant that none of the drivers behind could see a thing, and they all gingerly tried to navigate past the stricken BAR. Sadly for Fisichella, he was not cautious enough, and came through the fog with too much speed, hitting the rear of David Coulthard's McLaren, climbing up onto the rear wing, becoming airborne and then flipping into the safety barriers in sensational fashion. I bet the spectators behind that barrier needed a change of underclothes after that one !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLqPfOyh8Wc

2. Ralf Schumacher Melbourne 2002
An inauspicious start to the F1 season, the first corner accident of the opening race saw no less than eight cars retired before they had even had the chance to complete a lap. Ferrari's Rubens Barichello was on pole, and when the lights went out a spirited battle to the first corner ensued. Behind him the Williams of Ralf Schumacher clearly had more speed and in an effort to block Schumacher from passing him into the first corner, Barichello moved across the track into Schumacher's path. The result was that Schumacher's car launched off the back of the Ferrari into the air, vaulting over the top of it and travelling a good few metres airborne, before smashing back down to earth with a car breaking thud. Chaos behind ensued with the rest of the field trying desperately to avoid the stricken cars, but resulted in a multi car pile up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiRq6RwHuOI

1. David Coulthard Belgium 1998
Another extremely wet race which, in hindsight, should have been started under the safety car (in fact, this incident lead to a change in the rules to ensure that further wet races would do so). The track at Spa-Francorchamps is also one of the few tracks which does not begin on a straight. So when the lights went green and the front cars moved off, the drivers behind could barely see a thing as they came round the bend, because of the resulting spray. Not much was visible to spectators either, except for the McLaren of David Coulthard which suddenly emerged from the fog, at 90° to the track and hitting the wall. He rebounded into the path of the oncoming field, causing a chain reaction of crashes that all told, involved thirteen cars. The resulting aftermath meant that the track looked like a used parts yard with bits of cars scattered far and wide. Not surprisingly the race was red flagged. The race was restarted over an hour later, and from there the controversy continued with an oft debated incident between Coulthard and Michael Schumacher, giving F1 fans much to chew over in the coming days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkhhJqwzPjQ

GP2 Driver Analysis

It's been an entertaining season, but the series that is known for producing F1 talent appears to have failed somewhat this year, with the top drivers often being ragged and weaker than predecessors such as Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Timo Glock, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet and Kazuki Nakajima (Ok, maybe not weaker than Kaz!)

The Top Bunch

Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering - 1^st) - Deserved to be champion, but he isn't F1 material. In 2004 he started the majority of the Grand Prix's as Jordan's 2^nd driver and had little impression and was shadowed by replacement Timo Glock, who is now quite average, with the odd spirited drive. So as Pantano only just became champion, in comparison to Glock who obliterated his opposition in 2007, does not bode well for a possible future in F1. A scrappy race at Spa with some awful, disgraceful driving was more expected of a rookie F3 driver than a GP2 champion.

Bruno Senna (iSport - 2^nd) - His Monaco victory earlier in the year was a great drive, but he was often anonymous in races, claiming lowly points positions that slowly add up. This is good for scoring points, but will not make an impression with F1 teams. His name will help, but he needs another season in GP2.

Lucas di Grassi (Campos - 3^rd)- He sat in for ITV Sport as a commentator in the Monaco races and you could tell that he was bored and wanted to be thrashing one of those cars round a circuit. So he misses 6 races and finishes only 10 points behind the champion. He could well be the next Piquet Jr - but he's the best driver in GP2 and should be rewarded with an F1 drive and if he isn't, he will come back and be 2009 champion

Romain Grosjean (ART - 4^th) - He is what France needs - a young racing driver so that Magny Cours could well be revived. The 2008 GP2 Asia Champion has shown raw speed and deserved wins that were snatched from him in Spain and Germany, however, he is very aggressive on the track and needs to town down to become an all-round racing driver. He also needs to realise that his mean opponent for the Renault seat is Lucas di Grassi, who is seen as the better candidate, but his nationality will help.

Pastor Maldonado (Piquet Sports - 5th) - The Monaco Specialist had a torrid start to the season, but time progressed and he has improved phenomenally. Not F1 quality - but his drives at Spa and Monza will have turned some heads.

Sebastien Buemi Trust Team Arden - 6^th) - Considering he comes from a land where motorsport is seen as Nazism, he is damn good!!! He obliterated his team-mates completely and took controlled wins at Magny Cours and the Hungaroring. An F1 test role, if not a driving seat beckons for 2009.

The Midfield

Vitaly Petrov (Campos - 7^th) - Russia's best driver by far. He has been consistent and deserved his (very lucky) win in Valencia. He needs another season to mature, but with F1 seeking entry into Moscow, he could find himself in the deep end for 2010.

Alvaro Parente- (Super Nova - 8^th) - One of Portugal's finest breed excelled himself this year, shining on F1's greatest track with a storming drive, only bettered by Grosjean. Has made mistakes, but he's one for the future. A win at the start of the season in the feature race must have been a great boost!

Andi Zuber - (Piquet Sports - 9^th) -Can't decide whether he's from Austria or The UAE, but it doesn't really matter.He was destroyed by Maldonado most of the season and did little to impress the onlooker. One more season or he may be slipping down into lower categories

Karun Chandhok (iSport - 10^th) - This was his season to shine - but he didn't. Raced poorly most of the season and his one win was all he deserved. He may well though get an F1 seat because he is Indian and Mr.India (Vijay Mallya) want home bred drivers for the Indian GP in 2010. He must improve!

Jermome D'Ambrosio (DAMS- 11^th) - One of the most impressive drivers of the series. The rookie excelled and was heartbreakingly close to a home win - he deserves a top machine next year so he can prove to the F1 fraternity that Belgium is a motorsport country.

Mike Conway - (Trident Racing - 12^th) - Cruelly robbed of a Monaco feature race podium, but made up for it the next day with a win. Solid driver, but not great. He is the best Brit outside of F1 at the moment though.

Roland Rodriguez (FMS International - 13^th) Great drive at Monza sprint race was a great way to end the season. Will remain as a GP2 midfield runner before slipping down the order. Sad but true.

Andy Soucek - (Super Nova - 14^th) - 2^nd place thanks to the reverse grid at Hungary was the best it got for him.

Davide Valsecchi - (Durango - 15^th) - A mammoth shunt hospitalised him in Belgium, then came back the next day to finish 6^th and then win a t home in Monza! Mega, considering he missed most of the season through injury.

Kamui Kobayashi - (DAMS - 16^th) - A win at Barcelona was great, but then got 4 points over the course of the next 18 races. Strange, very strange...

The Guys at the back

Javier Villa - (Racing Engineering - 17^th) - Team mate to the champion, so getting 8 points will do nothing for him. Not great. Adios.

Ho Pin Tung (Trident - 18^th) - 2^nd at Monaco behind team mate Conway was a great result for him and the team, but that was about the best it got.

Luca Filippi (ART/Arden - 19^th) - What the hell has this guy been doing? Crash after crash and then punts off former team "mate" Grosjean at Valencia. Poor, very poor. He should get out of this series.

Yelmer Buurman (Arden - 20^th) - Got a podium in France then replaced by Filippi. Poor decision and the Dutchman deserved to stay on.

Adrian Valles - (FMS International/BCN Competition - 21st) - Switched teams and trundled round. Thats about it really.

Diego Nunes (DPR - 22^nd) - Not a great season, but definitely GP2 quality.

Sakon Yamamoto (ART - 23^rd) - Now, is this the same guy who drove for Super Aguri and Spyker? If so, then any of the above drivers really can be in F1 next year!

Ben Hanley ( Campos - 24^th) - Seemed a bit strange that he was replaced, then his replacement went on to finish P3 in the standings. 'Nuff said!

Adam Carroll (FMS International - 25^th) - Got a point in the 4 races that he drove, but was subsequently replaced.

Alberto Valerio (Durango - 26^th) - Very amateurish. Could not handle the speed and even Di Grassi said that he spins too much. Needs to go back to F3 or below.

Christian Bakkerud (Super Nova - 27^th) Not a bad driver, but back injury forced him out for the season. Pity.

Marko Asmer (FMS International - 28^th) Poor season. DTM is looming

Carlos Iaconelli (BCN - 29^th) - Quite a good driver with not the greatest of teams. Unlucky not to score points, but will be remembered for his 007 style smoke screen in Budapest.

Michael Herck - (DPR) - Not great, but Romania's finest can easily improve.

Note - 4 other drives started races in 2008.

Author : phil

Find the error :

https://img44.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=51193_errors_122_667lo.JPG ( I can't put it in the full size - I don't know why , but I hope you can put it visible :p )

Correct :

The 'o' is missing on the 'you got wings' on DC helmet.

-The "S" on one of the mechanics is missing slightly on the 2nd pic

-Yellow "mark" on the tire changer's (front left tire) helmet is blue.

F1 jokes:

Funny quotations
Interviewer asks from Kimi:
''What do you think about the atmosphere at McLaren after the ''Spy Scandal?''
Pretty damn good, I guess.''- Kimi Räikkönen

''This car is piece of s**t! The car has no balance and downforce sucks. But I gonna have fun with it!''- Gilles Villeneuve

"I saw the flames and I thought 'S**t! This thing's on fire!'"- Eddie Irvine, after Belgium

''Montoya's success at NASCAR? I don't care!''- Kimi Räikkönen

Brundle asks, why Kimi wasn't at Schumacher's ''farewell-party'':
''I was having a s**it'', Kimi Räikkönen, Brazil 2006

''If your name is Schumacher, that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want.'' -Keke Rosberg

''F1 is so stiff nowadays. Like everyone has crowbar in their ass. Things have really changed.'' -Jyrki Järvilehto

Kimi about christmas:
"I don't really need anything. I'm happy to get over Christmas. It's quite boring really"- Kimi Räikkönen

[i]Hunt won the 1976 British GP:
''What thid victory means to you?''
''9 points, 2 000 dollars and a lot of happiness!''- James Hunt[i


Murray Walkerisms
''Look up there, that's the sky!''
''The Italian GP at Monaco...''
''One light... two lights... three laps...''
''Jenson will win, when the car is good enough for his talent"
''And there's the man in the green flag!''
"David pulls across in front of Coulthard..."
''I'm applying intelligence and observation to the situation...''
''...the enthusiastic enthusiasts...''
''Andrea de Cesaris...the man who has won more Grands Prix than anyone else without actually winning one of them.''
''WHOOOOAAA!! Off goes Michael Schu...Coulthard...''

Funny F1-pics
https://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=button2004malaysia07phcmq1.jpg ( I can't open them in the Full size Here - don't copy the Link to the Magazine :p )

As we can see, Jenson is not used to celebrating at podiums

https://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=87802ld8.jpg
''Kimi, you won the championship!''

https://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xgbhqkdjlrkqtmjpexnhm6.jpg
''Just you wait...''

https://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=05150212medium2trig2.jpg
Kimi, are you alright?

https://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=barcelona07hm5wu2.jpg
Bourdais's reaction, when he get a contract to STR.

https://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kimidpa400bp5.jpg
''Kimi, how does it feel to win?''