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. 

7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Nico Rosberg

As if squaring up against Michael Schumacher wasn't enough and then beating him, Nico Rosberg now had a younger threat to compete against at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was coming.

I had originally considered the hype around Mercedes in 2013 to be a damp squib and predicted it would all implode in their face, but I have never been more wrong! This year's car has amazing one lap pace which can be seen by seven pole positions. This has all came at the price of high tyre degradation and earlier on in the season resulted in both drivers losing key points positions.

So when Nico Rosberg bagged his third successive pole position in the 6th round of the season in Monaco, most were expecting him to hold up the rest of the grid and force someone to take decisive overtaking measures. The truth could not have been further as Rosberg stormed to a massive win, where even Sebastian Vettel gave up on chasing him down.

Rosberg may not have scored as many points as Hamilton so far this season, but whenever all the media attention was on Hamilton, whenever all the talk was about Lewis, Nico Rosberg had continued to put in great race performances. At the end of the day, Nico Rosberg won the first race for this new Mercedes team last season, and he has won two more this season, while Lewis has only won the latest Grand Prix.

One of the key reasons I've put Nico on this (sort of) list of impressive drivers is that his performances are near enough on par with Hamilton's despite the varying levels of support within the Mercedes team. I'm not saying there's any bias but look at it this way; when Nico Rosberg qualified on pole three times in a row and won two Grand Prix's, Niki Lauda was nowhere to be seen or heard from. Whenever Lewis Hamilton won in Hungary, Lauda couldn't praise him quick enough. It's obviously not a huge factor yet, but it would be nice for him to acknowledge the German.

While there has been a lot of renovating been done on the Mercedes team, Nico Rosberg along with Ross Brawn have been constant factors and much like his father, he's destined to lift that driver's trophy eventually.

Preview: German Grand Prix 2013

Is there a grander and more gruesome track in Europe other than the Nurburgring? No... And therefore, it's the most difficult track in the world. And the Formula 1 drivers are only allowed to do the easy part of the track because no one would let real racing drivers (and Sebastian Vettel) loose on the Nordschleife!

I'm not even gutted that we don't have this circuit every year because the Hockenheimring is just as fantastic, but there is a sense of magic around this particular track.

Pirelli will not only be bringing the Medium and Soft compounds this weekend, they are also bringing restructured kevlar rear tyres after incredible failures at last week's British Grand Prix. At some point, Paul Hembery is going to have to admit that when driver safety comes into question, he's actually going to research how to build a half decent tyre.



Despite being a technically demanding 16 turn track, both tyre and brake wear is low. Downforce is often at it's highest, but the new tyres seem to be coping okay.

I am very well aware brand new tyres are going to disadvantage Lotus and play straight into Red Bull's hands, but I don't want something like Massa's 09 injury occurring to any driver. I defy any man or woman to think differently.

Not only are we back in Germany, I also got treated to the sight of Michael Schumacher this weekend! I miss him lots but his old Mercedes team are doing quite well in terms of getting their tyre management during the race under control. Lewis Hamilton's incident was in the fate of God, no one was going to stop him at Silverstone. If he isn't a good shout for pole, he's a race winning contender.

One way of fixing the tyre issue.

As is his team mate, Nico Rosberg. I don't want to jump on any bandwagons, but he is fairly close to becoming full circle. If he could just involve himself in a championship fight, we may see a real hero. Interesting fact, he wants to complete his 'home hat trick.' This is the three Grand Prix's where he has some sort of base. Monaco is where he grew up and lives, Silverstone is a few miles from Mercedes's base so he wants to win the German Grand Prix as he himself is a Native (minus the whole not living there thing).

Vettel can be considered favourite for most races, but never Germany. He normally flops at his home Grand Prix or in last year's case, gets himself demoted following illegal manoeuvre's. But just like in Canada, ducks can be broken. You would be foolish to count him out. 

Just like compatriot Adrian Sutil, I've never been too fond of the man and I'm still not, but the racing driver surely has given me some food for thought. In the wake be being shown up by Force India team mate Paul di Resta, Sutil has stepped up and has produced some wonderful results. I wouldn't count out di Resta too soon though, I think a podium is looming.

Fernando Alonso's main objective this weekend will be too finish ahead of Vettel. Even though it is not my favourite way of fighting a championship, it's the best way to play Vettel at his own game. With Kimi Raikkonen still trying to find some competitive race pace, and the fact Germany doesn't sit well for Kimi, this is Alonso's chance to pull away and gain at the same time.

It's a race that will separate the men from the boy's, let's just pray fate stays the hell away and let the professionals do what they do best: RACE.

The Story So Far... Part Two

Last time out, I covered the progress of the majority of the rookie drivers in the Marussia and Caterham teams, along with Valtteri Bottas and his experienced team mate Pastor Maldonado in the Williams.

The midfield last season was extremely tight with Sauber making an immense leap forward in terms of pace and podium finishes. Force India showed us how far they have come and Toro Rosso put their young talent on display with just the one driver breaking through. All these teams (excluding Toro Rosso) have swapped about drivers but no driver change was as big when it was announced Lewis Hamilton would take over from Michael Schumacher who was forced into retirement by the move. 

Toro Rosso
The Red Bull feeder team has always been known for hiring rookies to promote to the bigger team, but in recent years they have failed to find any talent worth of replacing Mark Webber.

Last year, Daniel Ricciardo was heavily promoted as the more talented driver but he was consistently beaten by Jean-Eric Vergne's driving ability. This year the team has made a much improved leap forward, the same can be said for both drivers.

Eventually, Toro Rosso will ditch these two boys, I reckon they won't have bother finding work in Formula 1.

Daniel Ricciardo
His season didn't get off to the best start with the first two races, but his qualifying magic was duly present in China this year when he qualified 7th and finished 7th. Usually when a team achieves that kind of result on Saturday, it turns out to be a nightmare on Sunday, so he done a great job holding it all up.

With more people noticing JEV's talents, the pressure has been lifted off Daniel, which can only be a good thing.

He needs to focus on trying to beat his team mate. When a seat eventually becomes vacant at Red Bull, this is how he will be judged, and at the minute, the ball is in JEV's court.

Jean-Eric Vergne
I have always thought JEV (great nickname) has been a great driver. Considering he's only 3 points off last season's total already speaks for itself.

His qualifying performances have improved quite dramatically, and his scoring points more consistently is achievable because of a great car.

He is the ideal candidate to succeed Mark Webber because he has no ego and a great fan base. Should he keep this up, championship opportunities will be plentiful.

Force India
Me and this team did not get off to the best start this year. The fact they waited until the last minute to announce their second driver was extremely disrespectful.

When Adrian Sutil was unveiled, an opportunity had been missed in the form of Jules Biachi. His raw pace should have been shown in this car, not a lacklustre Marussia.

Monaco was a high point for the team with both drivers proving overtaking is possible.

Adrian Sutil
Instead of a world championship, Sutil has something more unique to his name, an ASBO. I'm not a fan of Sutil or second chances. The fact he got one annoys me when there were better options.

It's hard to argue though that this driver decision didn't work. So far he has proved he can still compete with the best that the midfield has to offer, and staying out of the spotlight has not hurt his reputation.

It's hard to say what's in store for him. The fact he has only ever driven for Force India (and their two previous outfit names) has to say something about what other teams think of him. His aim for the season should be to stay out of Paul's way.

Paul di Resta
2013 was a great start for the Scot, but then someone in his team said "let's f--k everything up." Seriously though the amount of mistakes made by his garage is ridiculous.

Then people criticise Paul for hitting out at them?! He has every right to be outraged. di Resta is going places in the world, but he is being let done by his own team. Engineers being paid thousands and then not being able to count and do their job?!

Despite all this, Paul has scored points in every round bar Malaysia. The battle is equal between him and Sutil so far, but as the season progresses so will Paul. In addition, the team will need to clean up their act pronto.

Sauber
The Swiss team undoubtedly managed to steal raw talent from Force India by recruiting Nico Hulkenberg. Granted the start to their season got off to an awful start for many reasons, Nico managed to fight back before falling into another slump.

I predicted this before the start of the season. Sauber tend to have issues when carrying over momentum from one season to another. After reaching podium heights last year, they have only managed to score 5 points so far. 

The biggest mistake was not letting go of Sergio Perez, but rather Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese driver had huge talent but suffered at the hands of poor set up. They miss him greatly and instead, they hired what can only be described as a disaster.

Esteban Gutierrez 
The aforementioned disaster comes in the form of this furry (look at his eyebrows) little Mexican.

Like Perez before him, Sauber brought him in as the Mexican government funds the young driver, making him an extreme pay driver.

Let me assure you, NOTHING has payed off. He has proven to be an absolute danger to everyone around him. If he's not crashing into barriers he's crashing into title contenders such as Kimi Raikkonen.


He seems to have no awareness and once he's in the car, he acts like a newborn puppy, almost scared of his surroundings. Not to mention he's not even come close to scoring any points.

My hope is that he will be replaced soon. I can think of a number of better candidates, particularly Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen. His only purpose is bound to be his cash flow. Theey're probably keeping him around in order to gain enough money for next year, whenever Krazy Kob comes back (hopefully).

Nico Hulkenberg
The words; 'future world champion' come to mind, although that's based on his previous performances, this year it has not been great, that can be put down to the team though but not all the bucks can be passed.

He has been incredibly quiet this year, mostly scrapping from the back, very little opportunity to showcase true talent. He slumped after a double points finished but looked to be on the mend before he struck out in Canada. 

The move from Force India has not prospered for him at all and I feel bad for him. The only thing keeping Nico in the game is his dreadful team mate.

Just wait for Brazil though whenever Sebastian Vettel is trying to keep up with him around Interlagos!

Mercedes
The decision not to retain Michael Schumacher last year was painful. Love him or hate him, not hearing the name is absolutely crap.

Michael's departure was only the beginning of a board revolution. Followed out the door shortly by Norbert Haug, big names like Toto Wolff, Niki Lauda and reportedly, Paddy Lowe all joined to create an all star package of money, personality and brains. Team principle Ross Brawn has supposedly been cut out of the picture. His departure is still not for certain.

Despite the heavy hitters added to the background, the biggest talent on the grid joined (Fernando Alonso is all tied up at Ferrari) in the form of Lewis Hamilton.

I'm not one bit ashamed to admit I said that Mercedes were going to buckle under the weight of their own ambition this year and to be fair, the first two races they did.

Then the string of pole positions came. I was proven wrong, they had one lap speed. But race pace? Dreadful. 

Nobody could have predicted that they would be involved in the biggest scandal so far this year, but I'll have more on tyre gate soon.

Lewis Hamilton
The move away from McLaren must have hurt Lewis at a personal level. But there is no doubt it was a lucky one. He moved from disaster into an environment where he can be Lewis.

He's still looking for this first Mercedes win, but his pole positions were quite frequent. It's just the cars awful ability to look after the tyres. The situation really came home in Barcelona when he snapped back saying [to his engineer] "I can't go any slower."

Considering the majority of the rest of the season is filled with permanent race tracks (harder on tyre wear) he will struggle to find that first win. Rest assure, it will happen.

The best thing about Lewis this season is his new dog, Roscoe. SO ADORABLE (I'm a dog lover).

Nico Rosberg
I am very, very glad Nico got the first win for the all new Mercedes this year. There was too much hype and attention over Lewis. Autosport at a four page article nearly every week about him and it got sickening.

Nico managed to achieve three consecutive pole positions and the (supposed) biggest win of the year at Monaco, thirty years after his father. 

The season has been great to him so far. His tyre management is significantly better than Lewis's, although a lot off the field.

Backing both drivers never worked for Mercedes in the past, but it's not possible to back Nico over Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, that was never going to happen. Solace should be found in what he has achieved so far. Moving to another team around Mercedes where he is the number one focus would definitely benefit his career.

Remember, McLaren will be joining forces with Honda again and even though I am sceptical, it could bring back wonderful feelings to the team. I don't think they will want to keep Jenson Button or Perez around any longer. 

Nico Rosberg could easily find his Nirvana at McLaren.

Where Does Allison's Departure Leave Lotus?

As I am sure many of you have already heard, Lotus technical director James Allison, mastermind behind the team's current heavyweight E21 car has handed in his notice at the Enstone outfit. They certainly weren't long in replacing him, instead of luring outside talent, they elected to promote within, and Nick Chester (ex engineering directer) was the unlucky man to fill huge shoes.

James Allison (Centre)

When the news first broke, my immediate thought was: please don't let him go to Mercedes. After their recent recruitment drive spurred big names like Toto Wolff and of course, Lewis Hamilton to join, and with the looming threat over Ross Brawn's future, it looked like a perfect fit. But the team were quick to quash all rumours, stating that they had "a wealth of technical talent."

Considering he is one of the brightest technical minds in F1, it was always highly unlikely that he was for Red Bull, considering they have Adrian Newey controlling the show over there. There is also no way he'd want to join the sinking ship of McLaren, so that only leaves one team.

Sources are already confirming that talks have begun, but a deal has yet to be signed. Truth be told, it's the only place where he has now. He'll be going back to the team where he worked for 5 years, arguably 5 of the most successful in the Scuderia when Michael Schumacher dominated the sport.

Lotus's number 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen will be out of contract at the end of the season, and with increasing interest from Red Bull, it looks as though Allison's departure could be the deciding factor for his future. His title challenge will also suffer. Even though Nick Chester will have been kept up to date with future update packages, there's only so far that will take them. The pressure of the drivers championship may hit him hard, leaving Kimi with no foot to stand on.

Kimi in his own unique style brushed off the news, saying "for me it does not make a difference" and that counting him out of the title would be "stupid."

Allison's departure to the Lotus faithful is a huge blow considering the blistering start to the 2013 season. Questions I want answered are: Why, and how much does he know about 2014? 

Same Story, Different Rubber

"The goal is to continuously set new challenges for the drivers and to ensure that all the teams start the season with a level playing field when it comes to the tyres." Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport director.

On Wednesday, Formula 1's exclusive tyre manufacturers Pirelli unveiled their new range of 2013 tyres. For those of you who recall the Brazillian Grand Prix last year, the teams got a taste of the brand new orange wall tyre to test in free practice, with most teams noticing higher degradation. 

Pirelli made the start of last season unique, producing 7 different winners in the first 7 races. However the teams eventually cracked the code to unlocking less tyre wear and as a result we ended up with Sebastian Vettel boring us all again like he did in 2011. 

This years tyres ensure more pitstops with at least 2 per race. I'm not sure I like this too much. Yes it's all well and good bringing in more pit time to shake up the race, but I don't necessarily like the fact that there's more of a chance to lose a grand prix or position in the pits as opposed to seeing great overtaking on track. Kimi Raikkonen (last season) scored at least a point in every race except China because his tyres wore away on him unexpectedly  Granted this was not entirely Pirelli's fault and I'm no blaming them, but this is an example of how unpredictable they were and how they changed races. Raikkonen dropped from 2nd to 13th.

All tyres now have softer compounds, this means softer sidewalls and stronger shoulders, producing faster thermal degradation. For those who struggle with the technical aspects, this means tyres will reach their peak performance much sooner with Pirelli even quoting they will be half a second quicker than last years.

According to the Formula 1 Official Website the colours still represent the same compounds, with orange replacing silver as the hard wall tyre. I think it was absolutely ridiculous to have both white and silver markings, you couldn't tell the damn things apart!

A lot of fans have a real disdain for Pirelli and I can see why. Even God himself (Michael Schumacher) stated he had a hard time figuring them out. I had no issue with the tyres until Monza last year. What IDIOT decided to use the hard and medium only at the fastest track on the calendar. If you're going to have hard braking points which you do at Monza, for the love of all that is holy, bring compounds that'll wear quicker. Not the hardest you can find. There really is no excuse I don't care how technical or fancy anyone puts it.

I also found it interesting that each tyre has it's own individual bar code which acts as its 'identification' so the FIA can keep track and note who's using which tyre. Teams get 6 sets of the harder compound and 5 sets of the softer compound to use during a racing weekend.

Toto Weird Turn Of Events

"I just dread to think that a Motorsport lover will be replaced with somebody with money in their eyes" - My words from my blog on Norbert Haug's exit

I have to say, it doesn't take very much to confuse me but one of the biggest mind boggles I have ever come across is the world of business. So it's safe to say when the news about Toto Wolff apparently leaving his Williams post for Mercedes emerged, I scratched a hole in my head.

I'm not entirely sure about how confirmed it is, but my rule is if Autosport report it, it's probably right. To read their report, click here. 

It was to my understanding that he was going to become Sir Frank Williams successor, a move which I believe would have ushered in a new era of success at the team but it's not likely to be.

The more and more I learn about him, the more and more I start to like him. If he takes up the role, he'll effectively be replacing Nobert Haug who left Mercedes via mutual consent in December 2012. If you have been reading my blog you'll recall I wrote a piece on Haug's departure. If not, click here to read it.

It seems as though my fear has come true. At the end of the day, Wolff's a business man at heart ironically owning shares in Haug's DTM. How much will this affect the racing? My prediction, a lot.

Mercedes seem to be building a monopoly of total dominance: Once Schumacher was out of the way they started reshuffling the pack. They get rid of Haug and replaced him with Wolff, that covered the business end of things. It's a widely known fact that Niki Lauda is associated with the team, this covers the face and voice of Mercedes as he's a well known and respected character (I personally am a Hunt man but that's another story). And of course the biggest aspect to me and to the fans is the racing. Who did the team get to cover that? A man who many consider the quickest and best in Formula 1 at this current time. Lewis Hamilton has the racing covered.

Mercedes certainly have a hand to go all in with, but my guess is we won't see it this year. I think they'll break everyone in to their roles and quietly develop the revolutionary new engine for the season after. Then they spring their trap and complete a power shift, and as a factory team they, along with Ferrari and Lotus (Renault previously but they still have the factory relationship) will become the real power houses in the game. 

A new era is dawning and whatever anybodies opinion, there's no denying that Mercedes are certainly looking towards the future.

My 2012 Season Review Part 1

What a season it has been! We've seen 7 different winners in the first 7 races, Alonso and Ferrari fooling us all and Kimi handed out some more ice creams. The reason why this is coming so late is because I never knew how successful this blog was going to be! For this, I thank you all.

The 9 awards have been carefully selected by my wonderful self by watching extensive footage of the 2012 season. I'll be naming the 2 runner ups before the winner of each award so you have an idea of how difficult the choices were. Here are the first 5 awards, please join me for Part 2 where I'll name the rest of the winners!

The first award goes to the driver who came out with the funniest line that made me laugh out loud hard. Here are the runners up for the Quote Of The Year Award.

Sergio Perez

"He is a driver who does not respect [others]. Doesn't he know we are risking our lives? He's just a stupid driver."

Regarding the incident where Pastor Maldonado took him out of the race at Silverstone. This made me laugh so hard at first but at the time highlighted a serious issue, he was a very dangerous driver who does not think. Nonetheless, Checo was spot on!

Mark Webber

"It was that first lap nut case Grosjean again."

Mark the Shark hitting out at his premature retirement at the hands of the maniac Grosjean. The thing is, if you asked Mark the same question today, he'd still give the same answer, proving it wasn't in the heat of the moment. Rather, it was an accurate assessment of a dangerous driver who had a ban not so long ago.



And the award goes to...

KIMI RAIKKONEN

Could it honestly be anybody else? Being a DIE HARD Iceman fan, I watched the Abu Dhabi GP on the edge of my seat, breaking out in sweats and fits of fear. Then, with one quick, smooth radio transmission, I knew he was going to go on to win the race. This is actually a picture of the shirt I own, I love him so much and he completed my season by winning the race, and giving us all something to remember it by.


Also, this happens to be one of the funniest interviews he's ever given and nearly made the cut.


The Rookie Of The Year Award goes to the driver who impressed me on his first season at the top of Motorsport. Before I announce the winner, here's the runner up.

Charles Pic

To be fairly honest, it was between him and the eventual winner. And Pic lost. Without going in to detail why, read my previous blog on my feelings about Pic.



And the award goes to...

Jean-Éric Vergne

Considering his team mate Ricciardo had the biggest hype about him, JEV has came into the sport and not only stole the spotlight, he also secured his seat with the Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso. Out scoring his team mate by 6 points and showing he could race wheel to wheel with cars near the same capability as his own, Vergne has proved he belongs in the sport.

The next award goes to the driver who made that jaw dropping pass. You know, the one that made you exude vast amounts of swear words? Yep that one. I watched a ton of Youtube videos to make a short list for this category, and even then it took me hours to come up with a top 3. The first of our 2 runners up is maybe debatable but other than that the one after and the winner are well deserved, some would say they could even be swapped around. Here are your runners up for Overtake Of The Year.

Lewis Hamilton, Canada. The moves on both Vettel and Alonso may not have been the flashiest, but it was the fact he was in a different pit window, he was 6 seconds behind and he still managed the win. The video also contains a double overtake by Sergio Perez.

Felipe Massa, Singapore. This makes the list purely for one reason. The move could either have gone as it did, scary, dodgy but really cool looking. OR, it could have ended in a massive crash and Felipe's expulsion from the team. He held it well and it payed off. To be honest, it was Rob Smedley's facial expression after it that made it for me.


And the award goes to...
KIMI RAIKKONEN, SPA. The King of Spa may not have won, but he certainly proved with this overtake on the illustrious Eau Rouge corner that he is more than deserving of the crown. Kimi doesn't just pass drivers because there's a gap or slipstream, he overtakes after evaluating every situation with precision. He knew he could only get Michael at that [articular time so he'd have the DRS to escape a retaliation. The man is a genius, no way around it.


This next award is quite personal, and is only based on my emotions. My Moment Of The Year Award goes to the one time in the season where my heart strings were well and truly tugged. The runners up included the Japanese chanting Kamui Kobayashi's name and God himself, Michael Schumacher achieving pole at Monaco. I firmly believe if he hadn't been so foolish at the race before to receive a grid penalty, he would have won. But that's neither here nor there, my moment of the year belongs to this photo:

VALENCIA PODIUM, SCHUMACHER 3RD, RAIKKONEN 2ND, ALONSO 1ST. This picture contains the three greatest drivers of my generation. They also happen to be my 3 favourite drivers and even though I'm heartbroken to see Schumacher go, this memory will last with me forever.




Grand Prix Of The Award is the title given to the race where I felt had the most excitement and enough action to lay a mark in history. For me personally, the winner was a no brainer and I'll explain why, but it was the runners up that was so difficult! I had 17 amazing Grand Prix's to chose from (India & Singapore do not count as they are pure filth) and I really do wish I could give them all a place. But here are the runners up.

Malaysian Grand Prix 
I will never forget the moment when I heard the result. Neither will my partner, she still has the bruise from where I went mental. I could not believe that after the pre season disaster, Alonso had managed a win in a Ferrari. It's also hard to disagree with the fact that this made people sit up and look at Perez.

Brazilian Grand Prix 
Interlagos never fails to disappoint as the season closer. This year with the title closer to the wire than ever before, it threw us a massive blast of hope when Vettel spun on the opening lap thinking he won't gain another title based on the Newey factor. Regardless of the fact he did, I still loved every second, including Hulkenberg storming to the front, and Kimi getting completely lost.


But the winner has to go to the greatest experience of my life;

BRITISH GRAND PRIX
The reason why this is my winner is because it was my first Formula 1 event live. I have never experienced anything like it. To say I saw 6 world champions race on the same grid that day honestly impacted my life in only positive ways. The rain wasn't enough to get my spirits down, it added to the occassion because it's not British without rain! I was standing at Luffield on race day and witnessed Bastard Maldonado taking out Checo, Kimi chasing down the pack constantly and the best moment of the weekend, Webber's overtake on Alonso. I was routing for Alonso the whole weekend, but I cannot deny how great the move was. It wouldn't have been the same without the group of guys I was with so to Stephen, Cillein & Patrice I'd like to say thank you very much!


Well I hope you enjoyed the first set of awards. I'm sure you each have your own opinions and I would very much like to hear about them in the comments below, or on twitter @Houston60.

Here is a recap of the awards, and what awards you can expect to see soon:
QUOTE OF THE YEAR: KIMI RAIKKONEN "LEAVE ME ALONE! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING"

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: JEAN-ÉRIC VERGNE

OVERTAKE OF THE YEAR: KIMI TAKES SCHUMACHER AT EAU ROUGE

MY MOMENT OF THE YEAR: VALENCIA PODIUM

GRAND PRIX OF THE YEAR: BRITISH GRAND PRIX

The awards in Part 2:
HERO OF THE YEAR
VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
TEAM OF THE YEAR
DRIVER OF THE YEAR

Bitter-sweet exit Norbert?

I'm not sure what quote to start with tonight so I guess I'll just leave this space blank.

This is quite awkward post tonight because, there's so many stories and so many views on one point. To be entirely honest I'm not really sure what to make of it. So I'm going post each story, splitting the blog into bits and hopefully I'll develop a view along the way. It could either turn out to be a terrific blog or a complete dive so here goes.

Haug leaves Mercedes

After 22 years in Formula 1, German Motorsport journalist and businessman Norbert Haug is to step down from his post from Mercedes a company of great racing pedigree. In fact if you take away Formula 1 from the equation just to set Ferrari aside, the greatest manufacturing company in the world. 

He was at the centre of reintroducing Mercedes to Formula 1 in 1992 when he and Peter Sauber negotiated an engine deal.  After that he essentially re-branded the McLaren name as we all know today, titling it McLaren Mercedes.

There is no doubt about it, this man is Motorsport in his brain! Aside from Formula 1, he basically created the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) which if you're not as fluent in German as I am (cough, cough) is the German touring car championship. This 60 year old is way cooler than just a suit and a tie, he races in the Porsche Carrera Cup, tested an F1 car and; he came SECOND in the 24 Hours Nurburgring in 1985. Sufficed to say this man doesn't just sit on his arse.

But it's not all a love story. In 2010 his dream was complete of having a Mercedes F1 Team. However unfortunately due to whatever reason, even under the direction of Ross Brawn and with the driving brilliance of Michael Schumacher the team only managed one victory in three seasons (and that came from Schumachers supposed protege Nico Rosberg).

Schumacher's Opinion

It's also no secret that Haug was the one who pushed for Schumacher to become a part of the new team and Formula 1 again. They look like brothers in arms when they're together. They happen to be quite good friends outside the sport. It's no surprise Schumacher would be disappoitned and so outspoken about his departure. But this next article is the inspiration for the blog.

Haug's Reason

Bad results Norman. Sure. His dream turned out to be a bit of a damp squib of course. Although Schumacher is God and his stint at Mercedes is no way a bad mark on his status, it's hard to deny that one misfiring cylinder was always going to hurt the teams points tally. And one podium in three years for God is not good enough.

Mutual consent in Formula 1 is the same as every sport. It means jump before you're pushed. I think it's just too much to be a coincidence that the moment Lewis Hamilton replaces Haug's man, he's gone at the end of the season. And Hamilton's purchase was always branded as a Brawn move. I'm not saying he's gone because of Schumacher's retirement, maybe the company decided he's had enough. Whatever the reason, I hope it's not because of Niki Lauda joining the board because despite his driving acomplishments, I'd hate to see him directing Mercedes, they will almost certain focus the majority of their energy in Formula 1 and that will be devastating for Motorsport in general.

 At the end of the day he was chief boss at Mercedes. So I guess this won't impact on track, but I just dread to think that a Motorsport lover will be replaced with somebody with money in their eyes. Although this could maybe even benefit the team. After tasting victory and with Hamilton in his prime, he could upset a lot of the odds next season, maybe within two a world championship could be on the cards! You heard it here first!

Bernie Ecclestone: COFFIN DODGER

"I'm 82 and nobody can deny that" - Bernie Ecclestone

Is this the face of pure evil?

If you're a rich Arab leader with money to wipe your arse with, then no, this man is your best friend who is near the top five on your Christmas card list. If you're a true Formula 1 fan then he is evil incarnate. This man wants to take the very essence of Formula 1 and turn it into a profit.

Growing Concern. Is Bernie Too Old?

After dear old Bernie was criticised heavily following his condemnation of Ferrari's outcry by their president Luca di Montezemolo (see previous blog), he's hit back by saying he isn't stopping any time soon. I'm going to explain why this is a very negative aspect and even though we're going through a golden era in the sport, why we're still going down the wrong path.

I'm going be straight up. I don't like Bernie. The way he conducts business is wrong and his agenda is up the left. This isn't opinion, this is fact. Bernie gets everything his own way. He rules by iron fist with no compromise. This has led to many atrocities that you may be completely unaware of.

In 1999, Formula 1 ventured into the desert for the first time in it's history. The Malaysian GP was the first to take place in that region of the world. I'm actually a fan of this race, I find it a great addition to the calendar. Bernie had the idea of expanding to newer regions in order to grow a new base. One of the primary rules of business I suppose. But he didn't stop there. In 2004 Formula 1 was introduced to the country of Bahrain. Let me sum this race up to you. If you're not Sebastian Vettel, sorry I spelt that wrong. If you're not Adrian Newey in a Red Bull, and you still get pole position, you will still win the race. That's how systematically boring it still is.

It didn't stop there. In 2009 we were given an Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. What was the biggest attraction  It wasn't anything related to the track. All the hype was about a few lights on a hotel. Next year Korea hosted a Grand Prix and just last year, India received a Grand Prix! India?! They can't afford to feed their own people but they can host a race. What's my issue? These tracks do not fill out their capacity. Take a look at last years Indian race. Even just a clip on youtube. Now look at the stands. The majority of them are empty. Why do we continue to go back to these stupid Tilke designed desert races if the people there aren't interested? Because Bernie says so. A good friend of mine once said "bring the sport to the fans." But Bernie isn't about the fans. 

But the true reason why I despise this man originates from 2008. Some idiot thought it would be a genius idea to put a thousand flood lights and a few coloured boards around the streets of Singapore and call it  a race. It's awful. It is by far the worst Grand Prix in the sports history. The teams aren't very fond of it despite what they say on camera, I'm fairly certain very little people turn up for it an I'm damn sure the motorists hate the disruption to their journeys. So why is it there? Because it's all money in Bernie's back pocket!

These middle eastern races are replacing the very best race tracks in the world! Instead of classics like South Africa, France and San Marino we now have these ridiculous tracks with run off areas that carry the same speed as the race track. If you ran off track in Suzuka, your race was over. If you do it in Abu Dhabi, you benefit a few gain seconds and an illegal overtake which nobody sees.

It's terrifying to think that Spa was threatened with the axe this year after a difficulty with fees, but year after year it brings capacity crowds and an amazing race, while India brings more stray dogs than people and gets called a success. Based on this logic it's only a matter of time before Monza and Silverstone are replaced by races in Afghanistan or Tunisia. Even if Monte Carlo was the last classic track left on the calendar, you can bet any money Bernie would replace the principality with Iran just because they're able to provide him with plutonium in order to power whatever is keeping him alive.

It's time somebody replaced the tycoon with a real mind. The top of Formula 1 should not be headed by a little man constantly carrying bags with dollar signs around with him everyday. It should be ran by a racing icon. Someone who knows were the sport should be heading. Someone who says no to Bahrain and India, and yes to two German Grand Prix's and a return to Austria! Who do I honestly think should replace him? Michael Schumacher. And I'm not even going to state a reason because you know I'm right.

There is no doubt in my mind, Bernie has made Formula 1 the global sport it is. Commercial success is largely his. But he got greedy. Simple fact is he doesn't know what the fans want. Bernie you'll never know I exist, and will probably never read this. But I implore you, bring the sport to the fans. 

Clutching At Straws

Oh dear. They really have sunk to the bottom this time. If no one has heard the latest Ferrari stunt please take a read.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20531638

Let me start off by saying; I don't like Sebastian Vettel. He's an average driver at best, the only reason he's won 3 world championships is because of the superior machinery. This is FACT people. He's only won the 2012 World Championship by only participating in the last quarter of the championship. 

I am however a proud member of the Tifosi. Not my favourite team but I personally think Fernando Alonso is now the greatest driver on the grid after Michael Schumacher's exit.

But even I think is this a step too far for Stefano Domenicali and his prancing horse outfit. To actually weigh up evidence as to whether Vettel has cheated or not after it's all been said and done is (quite frankly) disgraceful.

How are Ferrari going to turn up to the award ceremony with their heads held up? They shouldn't and I would honest to God hope Fernando Alonso distances himself from this incident. I'd like to hope he wouldn't want to win the championship in this manner. 

Having said this the minute the story came out, it was shot down quicker than an HRT proposal in how to go faster. 

Ferrari have always been known to have had "connections" to the FIA and Bernie's doors, often whispering little favours. I personally have never believed them and I will continue to do so. But if Vettel did have the championship stripped from him, how would this have made Ferrari look?

With the introduction of another US GP, the nightmares floated back to that awful moment in history. 2005, only six cars competed due to tyre manufactures telling teams it was unsafe to run. Who was one of three teams to compete? Ferrari. The other two? Back runners (Jordan & Minardi who we now know as Sarah Force India & Scuderia Toro Rosso). This left a sour taste in everyone's mouth (not the yanks because I honestly couldn't care less). 

Ferrari will always have an air of mystery about them. But nobody can deny the brilliance of this team. They are Formula 1. They go hand in hand and without them the sport would be a shadow of its former self. I'm glad the issue is dead and buried. I hope it will not impact the development of next years car, because I firmly believe this is the year Ferrari return to the top. You heard it here first!