Double Trouble

As we know by now, one of the more shocking regulation changes for 2014 was to offer double points to the top 10 finishers of the very last Grand Prix of the year.

The idea is that the motivation will increase competition, and make the championship fight extend longer, unlike the snoozefest's of 2011 and 2013 (yawn). 

There are conflicting beliefs within the paddock that the points system is here to stay, Ferrari's Luca Di Montezemolo says that it's only a temporary folly whereas Lotus and Eric Boullier are certain it's a permanent arrangement. 

It's only one more desperate attempt to make Formula 1 look interesting, when in actual fact it's making the sport look like an absolute joke. Imagine making tries in rugby worth double in the last ten minutes of a match, it's complete crazy.

Eddie Irvine was spot on when he said the sport is completely lost.What gripes me the most is that Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA have basically said that Abu Dhabi, and the Yas Marina circuit is worth more than Silverstone, Monza, Monte Carlo and Spa. Why should emphasis be placed on a below par circuit that has existed for all of 5 minutes, above REAL circuits?

Oh wow, you light up, cause that's what the fans want...

One thing is always for sure; leave it to Red Bell and Sebastian Vettel to shy away from the fact that this only helps them. 

I'm not saying they had any involvement with the decision making, that would be stupid-thinking. What I am saying is that Vettel coming out and calling it "absurd," and Christian Horner criticising the FIA is rather cheap considering they are the only ones who truly benefit.

Red Bull perform far better in the second half in a season. Asia is practically Vettel's playground, you know he's just going to pull maximum points every time. And with 3 wins in 5 races at Yas Marina, it's safe to say it's a Vettel track. What if Red Bull scrape by the whole season, get lucky (because we know it happens) at Abu Dhabi and steal it away undeservedly?! It says to the teams just give it your 100% at the last race of the season, it's worth the real points.


This is all assuming the order remains the same with the new engines however, maybe the change is so big that double points might actually prove to be a great thing in the sport. Right now, it makes it look weak.

It seems to me like this is a quick fix to a really terminal problem with Formula 1. Along with the introduction of the Vettel Trophy (trophy for most pole positions), these are just really bad decisions. If the FIA wants to emulate the success of other motor racing series', introduce interesting scenarios like reversed grids, or ballasts like in the BTCC, not something that belittles 18 races of hard work.

My Thoughts On Michael Schumacher

No matter how involved with Formula 1 or sport in general for that matter, I'm sure I don't need to tell you of the awful events that occurred on 29/12/13.

Michael Schumacher's accident and current state has shocked and moved every single motor sport fan in the world. If you're as big a Schumacher fan as I am, the disbelief has just about wore off, and the enormity of the situation is only just becoming clear.

Schumi means quite a lot to me. My earliest memories of anything really are of watching Schumacher and Eddie Irvine racing for Ferrari. I supported Irvine for the obvious reason that he is from the same country as myself, but Michael's skill and talent really made me fall in love with his driving.

It's hard hearing your idol being in such a position that he is currently in. It sounds completely mad being attached to someone who doesn't even know I exist (there's even a psychological term for it called being crazy), but I still remember my first words at Silverstone 2012 which were:

"Holy sh*t, that's THE Michael Schumacher."

It doesn't matter to me that the 2010-2012 Schumacher era was nowhere near the dominant force that he was. We were just truly blessed to see such a true driving force behind the wheel of a Formula 1 racing car.

Things are looking quite bleak at the moment. Medical terms like "coma" and "haematoma" are certainly not what anyone wants to hear. I honestly believe that any other human being would have been dead by now. But Michael Schumacher was never a normal human being. If there's one man who can pull through this, it's the 7 times world champion.

All our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Schumacher, and I especially love the Ferrari vigil that was held today. It was carried out in such a tasteful and respectful manner. If there's one more reason for Michael to pull through this, it's so that he can see all the nice things that everyone is saying about him. 

Good luck Michael, get well soon!

#Red4Schumi

My Love With Monza

Driving a Ferrari at Monza must be the closest a man can come to being divine.

Despite being a British fan, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is not the first race weekend I look at on the calendar. My eyes go straight to September to find out what weekend Monza is happening over. I've been like this ever since I can remember. 

The 1998 Grand Prix is the earliest one I can remember, mostly because for some reason it was taped on an old VHS, and I had re-watched it so many times over the years. It was such an epic race, and of course a Ferrari 1-2 led by the God himself Michael Schumacher, followed by Eddie Irvine.

Monza currently caps off the European stretch of races, a fitting send off often because the memory of Monza tides me over for the following poor Asian races. One of the appeals of the circuit is the fast nature of the layout. It is the fastest circuit with the cars reaching their top possible speed at Monza. Teams often fit one of their brand new engines after Spa for Monza purely because of the demand put on them.

The history behind Monza is simply stunning. The old circuit ran through the forest, with the greatest attraction being the Pista di Alta Velocità banking which was one of the fastest corners in all of motor racing. Eventually the track had to be slowed down which led to a configuration and introduction of more chicanes. I would love to have seen a race on the old layout!

Excluding 1980 for construction work, Monza has hosted every Italian Grand Prix. A feat only beaten by Monaco.

My love for the circuit is also a little bit juvenile. The first F1 game I bought for the PS3 was F1 2010 and you started off as one of the bottom three teams and as one might imagine, I wasn't exactly competitive in the green Team Lotus. Somehow, miraculously I put the car on P2 on the grid. I don't know how but it happened. I got to the first chicane behind Lewis Hamilton and just as he was leaving it, he spun... I finished up P1... To this day I do not have a clue... But ever since then I just called myself the Master of Monza.

As a big lover of racing video games, Autodromo Nazionale Monza features in near enough all of them. Gran Turismo 5 is a particular talking point, it just looks like so much fun, I honestly cannot imagine what the real thing is like.

Even though it would seem like I've never had a bad thought about the track, I am realistic about how predictability race day is. Front row is always key here. Once you have secured P1 and P2 into the first chicane, that's it. And as we all know once Sebastian Vettel is first into the first corner, it''s all over because of the car. It's a formula that ruins many race weekends for me, but with Monza I always watch it through regardless.

In 2013, the pressure is on for many. One of the most intimidating factors of Monza is the Tifosi. Ferrari's army of hardcore and ruthless supporters can either make or break a driver's weekend. If a driver has had any previous connection to Ferrari, the fans will rally some support behind them. If not, you are considered the anti-Christ. Lewis Hamilton get boo'd last year when he won, simply for being a McLaren driver.

Obviously, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are under both tremendous support but deathly pressure. But driving a Ferrari at Monza must be the closest a man can come to being divine. You will hear the fans if neither are on the front row. Kimi Raikkonen must get his season back on track after his first DNF at Spa since his comeback. A new wheelbase might not save him, when has a wheelbase ever been the key to winning races. That being said I have no clue but I'm not hopeful.

Hamilton is probably favourite for pole, hopefully the Mercedes tyre issue is sorted because tyre wear is high. Italian pride may not exist in Pirelli this season, hopefully confidence will be restored after.

Regardless of events or the outcome, Monza will definitely throw up a huge level of excitement. This year's Formula 1 season has been extremely lacklustre. Most excitement has happened from a few blown tyres and a deserved retirement for Vettel at Silverstone. Australia was the best so far, and that was way back in March. Time for Monza to show us what it's made of. 

Force India: Ireland's Greatest Contribution to Formula 1

Confusing title, I know but there is method to my madness.

(I recommend you skip down to the picture if you don't care for history).

If you haven't already gathered, I'm a massive fan of Formula 1 (this post is just FULL of revelations right?).  Like any sport I want to support my nations team, or nations driver. Which is why in spite of Kimi Raikkonen being my favourite driver, I am a huge fan of Jenson Button, Paul di Resta and even Lewis Hamilton. Lotus would be my favourite team even if they weren't British, but I am fond of McLaren's history (not so much their present attitude) and even though I don't agree with their recent past I do think Williams are on the mend after hiring a competent driver such as Valtteri Bottas. But these are all British achievements and even though I am still proud of each and everyone of them, I would still like to have a little Irish charm about the sport.

Ireland has a very quick history in Formula 1. Unfortunately I don't mean pace. The first Irish racing driver was Joe Kelly who competed in the British rounds of the 1950 and 1951 seasons. Both were at Silverstone and he failed to finish either. The next Paddy was Derek Daly who was close to being the most successful Irish driver with a career total of 15 points spanning four seasons. Soon after him came Dave Kennedy, Tommy Byrne & Ralph Firman with only the latter receiving a grand career total of 1 point (and he wasn't even Irish, born and bred English but Irish racing licence). Sufficed to say, these aren't accolades to boast about for them. But what about the North of the country, my country?

Northern Ireland has had it's success with racing drivers. Lesser known drivers include Desmond Titterington (who raced for a team called Connaught!!!!!!), Damien Magee & Kenny Acheson who between them have had a handful of races, no wins or points. They aren't the only ones however, Martin Donnelly is probably one of the names that come to mind. Partially for racing in the Senna era, mostly because of a career ending crash he had in which he mangled his whole body. The most successful Northern Irish driver? Depends on how you define so I guess it's subjectional. Eddie Irvine racked up 191 career points over 10 seasons and came a close 2nd to winning the World Championship in 1999. However he only won 4 races. Not that I'm taking anything away from his achievements (I do think of him as a hero), but (maybe) the most successful driver from my beautiful home country is John Watson. With a total of 169 career points through 5 race wins, he's also grabbed 2 pole positions to Irvine's 0. All in all, Northern Ireland whips the South's ass in terms of drivers. But today's topic is all about Ireland's greatest contribution and I'm not talking about drivers. A team however, if managed and nurtured carefully can become a powerhouse like Infiniti Red Bull Racing. And this is why Force India is Ireland's greatest contribution to Formula 1.

Sahara Force India F1 Team started in 2008 and is owned by Indian Tycoon Vijay Mallya who also owns Cricket powerhouse Royal Challengers Bangalore. Their 2012 driver line up consisted of the ever impressive Paul di Resta and the consistent and magical Nico Hulkenberg, with the latter making a step up to Sauber, Paul will continue on presumably as team leader where I personally think he will prosper. Apart from the colours of their livery, how are Force India even remotely connected to Ireland?

WELL. Before they were Force India, the team was known as Spyker who ran through four drivers in one season. Their only season. They received their debut four races from the end of the 2006 season where they took over from Midland F1 Racing, and then subsequently completed  full season in 2007. But who did Midland F1 buy before all these events? In 2005 they bought the team known as the face of Formula 1 rock n roll. Yep, Midland bought over Irishman Eddie Jordan's racing team, Jordan Grand Prix. From 1996-2005 Jordan graced the land of Formula 1 with a bright attitude, giving starts like Rubens Barichello, Gianfranco Fisichella, Damon Hill, aforementioned Eddie Irvine, Heinz-Harold Frentzen (who won 2 races with the team) and most importantly, Michael Schumacher. They competed in 250 races with 4 Grand Prix wins.

There is no doubt in my mind, they were never going to be championship material. But they were back markers in their day! That never stopped them though, something which Caterham Marussia & HRT... ooooh awkward. Something slower teams today could learn a thing or two from. You only need to watch BBC programming to see the personality that is Eddie Jordan. The man's a fashion genius with the sense of humour you couldn't find if you lived in Ireland for fifty years! He's not the only personal who have made it big in F1. Mike Gascoyne went on to design cars for Benneton/Renault, Toyta and even back to Force India! He is currently doing his best with what Caterham are providing him. Rob Smedly went on to be an engineer for Ferrari and even made it on to their wall providing his with hilarious conversations between him and Massa. Gary Anderson also enjoyed stints with Jordan racing rounding off an ever impressive roster of employees for Eddie. The team was full of characters  giving the sport some much needed character. 

The point of making the Force India connection was to highlight a story of which I read a while back that actually startled me. Up until this season or the next (2013 or 2014) Force India still used components from the Jordan era. I feel that's worth highlighting by looking at what the team has accomplished this season! To name one example, Nico's amazing run in Brazil! He was leading the Grand Prix for a distinguished set of time! The only reason he dropped it was because of personal error, nothing to do with the car! Through time, Force India have taken a team from being a back runner, into a team who I can honestly see winning the constructors championship. With Paul hopefully heading the team, hopefully Force India can supplement him with a young driver who can provide plenty of R&D time and data, or maybe even an experience veteran who can push Paul to become the best, or even become a great in his own name. I have only one driver in mind, Heikki Kovalainen. If he doesn't get the Lotus job I think he is perfect and for his performances over the past three years he deserves a reward. However I think the more beneficial choice is the currently unemployed Kamui Kobayashi. Krazy Kob would be a huge gamble, but since Sauber got Force India's old driver, I think it's only fair a swap is made.

Whatever the decision is, I'm sure it's only going to be positive to build on the foundations of Eddie Jordan. That's why even though it may say India on the car, I like to think of them as Force Ireland. After all they have a whisky sponsor on the car!