04/20/24
June 10, 2007
"No one has ever made the business of driving a formula one car look so easy.": Lewis Hamilton dominates the field in an otherwise chaotic Canadian Grand Prix, and will start in Indianapolis next week as the F1 championship leader. Can the inevitable Tiger Woods comparisons give the American audience something to care about?
posted by etagloh to auto racing at 11:11 PM - 23 comments
My favourite aside in the Grand Prix was probably the radio communication between the Red Bull team and David Coulthard that was played on British TV. RB : "David, How's the car?" DC : "It won't go, it won't stop and it won't turn. But it's great fun!"
posted by Mr Bismarck at 05:01 AM on June 11, 2007
The kid is good, but could the British press dial down the hyperbole just a little bit? I understand the excitement, but comparing him to Fangio and Clark? At this time, he's just as likely to become another Jacques Villeneuve. Not to take away from Hamilton's race, but everyone of his most serious competitors got a drive-through penalty, a black flag, or had to wait for their teammate's pit stop to get his. It's easier to dominate in these conditions. I have no doubt he would have won the race anyway, and staying out of trouble is a good part of success, and he did that marvelously. F1 teams will have to adjust to the new safety car vs pit stops rules. Alonso and Fisichella has no fuel left when the pit lane closed, and had to choose between a penalty or running out of fuel. The prudent course of action would be to schedule stops with a couple of laps worth of fuel left in the tank. All in all, an action-packed afternoon in the Montréal tradition. I think everyone's glad to hear Kubica is OK, because that crash was scary. As for the post's question: no. What will make the US audience care about F1 is an American champion. I'm not holding my breath.
posted by qbert72 at 08:12 AM on June 11, 2007
"could the British press dial down the hyperbole just a little bit?" To quote the Magic 8 Ball : "All signs point to no." I think I speak for most of us Limeys when I say "Sorry." They really are a collection of buffoons.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 08:16 AM on June 11, 2007
In answer to the post's question, It would appear that F1 is doing just fine without America caring. Granted it would be nice to have a bit of that NASCAR audience's money (or CHAMP, or whatever), but I don't think it's a necessity. Hell, they all ready run 19 races a year. The kid is good, but could the British press dial down the hyperbole just a little bit? I understand the excitement, but comparing him to Fangio and Clark? At this time, he's just as likely to become another Jacques Villeneuve. 7 podiums in his first 7 races, including winning the last one? I know McLaren is kicking ass this year, but this kid sure doesn't sound like another Villeneuve.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:41 AM on June 11, 2007
Villeneuve won his fourth career Grand Prix. Hamilton's first season is very likely to resemble Jacques' one. People don't want to remember how immediate was Villeneuve's impact in F1.
posted by qbert72 at 09:00 AM on June 11, 2007
It's actually on six, I got nervous fingers on one of the 2s up there. So 3-2-2-2-2-1. That aside, Villeneuve's start to F1 was really rather good. 2,-,2,1 in his first four races, (winning more quickly than Lewis), and a season with four wins, five seconds and two thirds, for 11 podiums in 16 races and second in the driver's championship. He won the championship in his second year and then the move to BAR sort of killed his time at the front. As for earlier comments about Hamilton's closest competitors, by the end of the first three corners his teammate had been across the grass, (not for the last time) and one Ferrari had driven into the other. It's true that Heidfeld's BMW makes a less daunting image in the rear-view than Massa or Alonso's lawnmower, but Hamilton had built a 20 second lead by the time of the first safety car, so while Alonso and Rosberg got Stop-Go penalties, Hamilton didn't get away scot-free either. Four times Hamilton would see any lead he'd built up taken back away from him again because of other people's mistakes. It may be easy to dominate in those circumstances, but who knows how far down the road he would have been had he not had to hand back his lead and reset to zero time and again. Sadly, there's nothing we can do about the press though, save not read English papers. You should see what happens when we win a football match.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:08 AM on June 11, 2007
qbert is as fast as Villeneuve's start with Williams. I should use preview.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:09 AM on June 11, 2007
Hamilton totally deserved that win, no question about it. Alonso was quite frankly scary. He let Heidfeld build a lead over him, then he suddenly found his pace in the middle stint after his penalty, only to lose it completely in the last stint. And all those offs at turn 1, what carnage! Interesting to note too that Heidfeld had better race pace than both Ferraris. He looks like another guy who could get his maiden win this year.
posted by qbert72 at 09:20 AM on June 11, 2007
Mr Bismarck, the Japanese commentary in your last YouTube link is priceless. Thank you. (Kind of puts the British hyperbole in perspective, too.)
posted by qbert72 at 09:57 AM on June 11, 2007
I specifically included the Japanese version because of that commentary. It's great. I wonder how Honda feel, seeing Super Aguri scoring points in last year's Honda, while they can't even get off the line in the 2007 "Works" car.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:00 AM on June 11, 2007
I was never a fan of Villeneuve, I don't really like newbies coming in a winning, but Hamilton is something. And if the British press could shut up about his brilliance he'd be great ;)
posted by Fence at 02:18 PM on June 11, 2007
It's been some time since the Brits have had a driver with this much talent and early success, I don't really blame them for all the press they're giving Hamilton. Hopefully, the lad doesn't let it go to his head. Haha....Poor Alonso!!! Nobody's paying any attention to me! I'm the champion! The best moments of yesterday's race by far was watching Takuma Sato in a Super Aguri pass Raikkonen's Ferrari, and then, even better, Alonso's McLaren. An absolutely astonishing feat. True David v. Goliath stuff. How Kubica survived that horrific crash with nothing more than a busted leg is a true testament to F1 safety technology. Thank goodness he's alright.
posted by eccsport78 at 03:00 PM on June 11, 2007
Guess a lot of you don't keep up with the news. Kubica suffered a sprained ankle and a light concussion, and hopes to be able to race at Indy this weekend. NO BROKEN BONES AT ALL. Villeneuve was a champion from another top series when he came in, used to racing ovals at 200mph. Lewis came up from the feeder series, so the comparisons to Villeneuve are irrelevant, as they had vastly different levels of experience. Not to mention the HUGE age difference. (Barring extremely bad luck, Lewis is gonna win a LOT more races in F1 than Villeneuve ever did.) Was a great race yesterday, and I was ecstatic to see Lewis win, but more importantly, Kubica is okay, and Heidfeld and Wurz filled out the podium. Fantastic race, fantastic podium IMO. Tired of the Lewis hyperbole myself too. Guy can't help that the media won't shut up. He's already talking about moving to Monaco to get away from them.
posted by Drood at 05:22 PM on June 11, 2007
Yeah, I saw that news on Kubica this evening. Even more amazing. BMW will make a decision on Thursday about whether they're going to allow him to drive at Indianapolis this weekend or not.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:11 PM on June 11, 2007
I hadn't heard the updated report on Kubica's condition, that's great news.
posted by eccsport78 at 09:18 PM on June 11, 2007
I hope he does drive at Indy. That'd be the perfect ending to this tale that, at the time it happened, I felt was going to end very very badly, since the first thing I noticed was he wasn't moving.
posted by Drood at 12:40 AM on June 12, 2007
I know......got a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw it from the camera angle that showed the main impact. I lost interest in F1 for a few seasons after Senna and Ratzenberger died on the same weekend. Seeing Kubica laying there not moving in the cockpit brought it all back. I know these guys understand the risk, but you never want to see something like that happen before your eyes. I hope he races this weekend, too. I have feeling Ferrari might just re-emerge this weekend. If they don't, expect Schumy to be doing testing at Fiorano real soon. I don't think he's there just to put on headphones and watch races, I think they'll have him testing the car at some point.
posted by eccsport78 at 01:05 AM on June 12, 2007
Alonson says McLaren favour Hamilton. Alonso's cheeky statement is secondary to my purposes here really, because right in the middle of the story is a link to Lewis' appearance on UK BBC children's TV show Blue Peter, at age 12, talking about his karting, with footage from three races. Lewis Hamilton aged 12 on Blue Peter .
posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:29 AM on June 13, 2007
Nice find, Mr Bismarck. There's a reason why Lewis is such a seasoned professional with the media: he's got a lot of experience. Villeneuve was a champion from another top series when he came in, used to racing ovals at 200mph. Lewis came up from the feeder series, so the comparisons to Villeneuve are irrelevant, as they had vastly different levels of experience. I would argue that the competition level is higher in GP2/F3000 than in CART. How else would you explain F1 feeder series "rejects" (Montoya, Bourdais) dominating CART so easily? Also, Hamilton has followed the perfect path leading to F1, unlike Villeneuve. CART is not a good gateway to F1. Villeneuve is the only driver since Mario Andretti to have succeeded in that transition. Not to mention the HUGE age difference. Villeneuve was 25 in his first Formula 1 season. That's 3 years older than Hamilton. Barring extremely bad luck, Lewis is gonna win a LOT more races in F1 than Villeneuve ever did. For a guy who's tired of the hyperbole, you're sure buying it. Hamilton is showing great talent, and definitely has the potential to win a lot of races. We have yet to see how he will perform in a car that's not the best of the field. I'm not saying he will be another Jacques Villeneuve. I'm saying it's just as likely as him being a new Fangio. Also, there's nothing wrong with being "just another Jacques Villeneuve". For starters, that would give the British a long-awaited World Champion.
posted by qbert72 at 10:21 AM on June 13, 2007
Here's another view of Kubica's crash. It's just unbelievable that he's (most likely) going to race this weekend.
posted by qbert72 at 09:51 AM on June 14, 2007
It actually looks quick there, whereas, for some reason, the TV coverage makes the accident look slower than it was, even when played at normal speed. Perhaps because the quality of the linked video is poorer, which makes it harder for the eye to track, or something? The link does a decent job of showing the difference between F1 and other open wheel series too, though. There are faster cars out there, (I believe a CART series machine has a higher top speed), but F1 acceleration and braking is astonishing and there's really no way to describe it to someone. You just have to go stand on a hairpin and watch.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:54 AM on June 14, 2007
Kubica not passed to race at Indianapolis 19 year old third driver Sebastien Vettel will run BMW's second car this weekend, with Timo Glock brought in to be the third driver. Kubica will go through another medical check next week to ensure that he's ok to race at Magny Cours on July 1.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:19 AM on June 15, 2007
Undoubtedly a fantastic start to a career for Hamilton, with 3-2-2-2-2-1 finishes and while America may need to compare him to Tiger, other more daunting comparisons are inevitable for a guy who wears a yellow helmet and sits in a McLaren. While comparisons to Ayrton will keep on coming, Lewis' driving style and his willingness to put the car sideways through corners, even at Monaco, reminded me most of Gilles Villeneuve, which is appropriate after he earned his first win at the circuit named for the Canadian. For what it's worth, I was impressed early with Hamilton as, being squeezed toward the grass in the first few hundred yards of his F1 career, he had the presence to lift off, put his foot back in and switch to the outside - (youtube) - not very flashy, but one of the best moves I've ever seen from a rookie. As for yesterday's race - what madness! Vindication for the FIA's work on monocoque design as Robert Kubica walks, (ok, hops), away from his nasty accident, (youtube), with just a broken leg, Liuzzi becomes a fairly indistinguished addition to the wall of champions, countless other cars in the wall, two disqualifications, a double-world champion who seems incapable of driving through turn two and a Super Aguri overtaking said champion (youtube).