What a race! What a bloody fantastic race. Even though the end result was not what I would have hoped for, I was still sitting at the edge of my seat, alternating between chewing out my bottom lip and the frenzied inhaling of countless cigarettes.
One of the oldest and most historic circuits on the Formula One calendar, Monza this year was a mixed bag of triumphs, vindication, oh-so-blinking-close and a particularly resounding Phew! Not exactly your classic stuff, but thrilling none-the-less.
Triumph for the Brawns that came home in 1-2, though they might have lost a few fingernails hanging on to the coveted spots from the McLaren that was snapping at the cogs of their double diffusers. It’s not every race day that sees race engineers on the pitwall barking out fuel mix levels and sector time differentials to their top driver on a sector-to-sector basis. You don’t need to tell Jenson Button to go for the jugular.
Triumph also for Reubens Barrichello and the F1 driver pensioners who, I am sure, relished the fact that the cantankerous old fart of F1 (37 and wrinkling by the minute) pipped the cheeky youngling (in comparison of course) to the top of the podium.
Vindication for Force India – they really are quick and the leap-frogging to the front end of the grid at Spa was no fluke. For a young(ish) back-marker team with a small budget and a pompous windbag with no Formula One experience for a team owner, they’ve managed to shame the likes of Toyota and BMW, teams with superior knowledge and, more importantly, significantly superior budgets. But the thing that surely merits the old eyebrows wandering up to meet the hairline is the fact that they’ve been all over the back end of that F1 giant, Ferrari, for two consecutive races. It’s nearly a sort of “Herbie goes Bananas” story, and in my opinion, equally delightful.
PHEW for that F1 giant, Ferrari. That’s two races in a row that Kimi Raikkonnen has had to display some quick finger work with the magic red button to stay in front of Herbie. Double Phew that Kimi was in iceman mode and didn’t put a wheel out of line. Imagine the indignation of the highly-spirited Tifosi if the “ickle” Force India had managed to pull off a manoeuvre on the mighty Ferrari on their home ground. But as usual, Divine Intervention stepped in, handing Kimi a podium finish with the demise of Hamilton’s McLaren, half a lap from the finish line. What else would you expect at the spiritual home of the Tifosi?
And finally, Oh-so-blinking-bloody-close for Lewis and McLaren. What can you say? The competitive streak in these drivers borders on insanity. Why else would you strap yourself into a carbon-fibre capsule on wheels and whizz around impossibly tight corners at 300 kmph? Give a competitive driver a halfway decent car and he will bang it around the circuit in the hunt for a win. Lewis’ sector time was flashing purple before he crashed.
But then again, that is the sublime beauty of the old traditionally great F1 circuits - absolutely unforgiving on the smallest of errors. Always entertaining. Always some delightful horror to elicit a pendulum of emotional sway – depending on who you’re cheering for. And yet, many of the great circuits have met the axe in the recent past. Montreal, Hockenheim and Silverstone have each thrown up races that are legendary stuff, but find themselves booted out for greener pastures. Ultimately it is the fans who lose out, while Bernie Ecclestone employs the likes of Herman Tilke to build another “technically challenging” circuit that has teams breaking out into a sweat and the spectators breaking out into gentle dulcet-toned snores.
One of the oldest and most historic circuits on the Formula One calendar, Monza this year was a mixed bag of triumphs, vindication, oh-so-blinking-close and a particularly resounding Phew! Not exactly your classic stuff, but thrilling none-the-less.
Triumph for the Brawns that came home in 1-2, though they might have lost a few fingernails hanging on to the coveted spots from the McLaren that was snapping at the cogs of their double diffusers. It’s not every race day that sees race engineers on the pitwall barking out fuel mix levels and sector time differentials to their top driver on a sector-to-sector basis. You don’t need to tell Jenson Button to go for the jugular.
Triumph also for Reubens Barrichello and the F1 driver pensioners who, I am sure, relished the fact that the cantankerous old fart of F1 (37 and wrinkling by the minute) pipped the cheeky youngling (in comparison of course) to the top of the podium.
Vindication for Force India – they really are quick and the leap-frogging to the front end of the grid at Spa was no fluke. For a young(ish) back-marker team with a small budget and a pompous windbag with no Formula One experience for a team owner, they’ve managed to shame the likes of Toyota and BMW, teams with superior knowledge and, more importantly, significantly superior budgets. But the thing that surely merits the old eyebrows wandering up to meet the hairline is the fact that they’ve been all over the back end of that F1 giant, Ferrari, for two consecutive races. It’s nearly a sort of “Herbie goes Bananas” story, and in my opinion, equally delightful.
PHEW for that F1 giant, Ferrari. That’s two races in a row that Kimi Raikkonnen has had to display some quick finger work with the magic red button to stay in front of Herbie. Double Phew that Kimi was in iceman mode and didn’t put a wheel out of line. Imagine the indignation of the highly-spirited Tifosi if the “ickle” Force India had managed to pull off a manoeuvre on the mighty Ferrari on their home ground. But as usual, Divine Intervention stepped in, handing Kimi a podium finish with the demise of Hamilton’s McLaren, half a lap from the finish line. What else would you expect at the spiritual home of the Tifosi?
And finally, Oh-so-blinking-bloody-close for Lewis and McLaren. What can you say? The competitive streak in these drivers borders on insanity. Why else would you strap yourself into a carbon-fibre capsule on wheels and whizz around impossibly tight corners at 300 kmph? Give a competitive driver a halfway decent car and he will bang it around the circuit in the hunt for a win. Lewis’ sector time was flashing purple before he crashed.
But then again, that is the sublime beauty of the old traditionally great F1 circuits - absolutely unforgiving on the smallest of errors. Always entertaining. Always some delightful horror to elicit a pendulum of emotional sway – depending on who you’re cheering for. And yet, many of the great circuits have met the axe in the recent past. Montreal, Hockenheim and Silverstone have each thrown up races that are legendary stuff, but find themselves booted out for greener pastures. Ultimately it is the fans who lose out, while Bernie Ecclestone employs the likes of Herman Tilke to build another “technically challenging” circuit that has teams breaking out into a sweat and the spectators breaking out into gentle dulcet-toned snores.
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