Rules, what rules?
Monday, May 17, 2010 at 11:10AM
I live in a nice gated community with an 18 mph speed limit and lots of stop signs to keep us safe and peaceful. Who are the biggest offenders to ignoring both? The residents of course. This morning was a particularly bad example with a Mercedes, how appropriate, going by me at twice the limit and not giving the meerest hint of a hesitation to blow through the stop sign. Some people obviously do not think the rules apply to them. And so to Michael Schumaker. Now, if what he did on Sunday was an isolated incident then perhaps we could put it down to being mislead by his team who must also share some of this rule "interpretation," but as we all know he has a history. How desperate do you have to be to want to make up one place at the end of a race ending under the safety car. I guess if you are a racer then every position counts, but none of the other racers out there thought it proper to try this, and Michael is hardly racing for the World Championship! Maybe he has watched too may NASCAR finishes? Now was a twenty second penalty too harsh? Under normal race circumstances it is probably OK, but when the field is nose to tail behind the safety car it is probably a bit much. Perhaps just putting him back where he was with a caution would have been more appropriate.
What do we think of Massa by passing the new chicane and not being penalised? I know he did not gain a position, but in a normal race situation he would almost certainly have lost one to Hamilton who had pressured him into the mistake. It's a tough call but on balance I would have moved him back behind Lewis. I am sure there are plenty who will not agree with me, and so be it, we are all welcome to our own opinion and free to express it thank goodness. We are still human.
Speaking of human we were reminded this weekend that for all the technology and wizardry in F1 there are still humans involved and races are won and lost by them. The poor guy who left the intake cover on Button's sidepod will live with that for the rest of his life. It is a sad fact that we can do 1000 things right, but if you really care, it is the one you do wrong that haunts you.
A good friend of mine, "Snoopy," Jean-Marc Bonnay commented to me on the standard of the track workers at Monaco, and prompted me to also give them acknowledgement. Most other series and tracks could take a lesson from how quickly they cleaned up some major wrecks. To see the number of workers running to get to the scene of Barrichello's crash was pretty amazing. Yes the track allows for cranes to be set up close, but how many tracks would go to that expense to have them, and they were obviously well drilled in how to hook a car up quickly. It actually should not cost too much for cranes. When we did the Adelaide race we were offered them for free just to have the exposure. Watch out for Snoopy at this year's Le Mans 24 hour race managing the Luc Alphand team.
Talking of good friends and Le Mans, check out Tony Dowe's web site at www.atenmotorsports.com. Tony has done just about everything in four wheel racing on the team management side, including winning Le Mans. He is currently engaged on preparing a Ferrari for the Grand Am series.
The Nurburgring 24 Hour has been run and won, with BMW victorious, but only just. Audi's challenge faltered with accidents and mechanical problems, and in a shape of things to come the race was led up to the 23rd hour by a Porsche GT3 R Hybrid. The car uses the flywheel regenerative system developed but not used by the Williams F1 team last year, and is rumored to be coming to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta later this year.
The WSB round at Kyalami was also run last weekend with the second race especially producing some great racing. Congratulations Leon Haslam, your dad must be proud. Nice to see Troy Corser on the BMW hanging in there, and let's hope they can coax a bit more speed out of that machine to let him get amongst the front runners.
What do we think of Massa by passing the new chicane and not being penalised? I know he did not gain a position, but in a normal race situation he would almost certainly have lost one to Hamilton who had pressured him into the mistake. It's a tough call but on balance I would have moved him back behind Lewis. I am sure there are plenty who will not agree with me, and so be it, we are all welcome to our own opinion and free to express it thank goodness. We are still human.
Speaking of human we were reminded this weekend that for all the technology and wizardry in F1 there are still humans involved and races are won and lost by them. The poor guy who left the intake cover on Button's sidepod will live with that for the rest of his life. It is a sad fact that we can do 1000 things right, but if you really care, it is the one you do wrong that haunts you.
A good friend of mine, "Snoopy," Jean-Marc Bonnay commented to me on the standard of the track workers at Monaco, and prompted me to also give them acknowledgement. Most other series and tracks could take a lesson from how quickly they cleaned up some major wrecks. To see the number of workers running to get to the scene of Barrichello's crash was pretty amazing. Yes the track allows for cranes to be set up close, but how many tracks would go to that expense to have them, and they were obviously well drilled in how to hook a car up quickly. It actually should not cost too much for cranes. When we did the Adelaide race we were offered them for free just to have the exposure. Watch out for Snoopy at this year's Le Mans 24 hour race managing the Luc Alphand team.
Talking of good friends and Le Mans, check out Tony Dowe's web site at www.atenmotorsports.com. Tony has done just about everything in four wheel racing on the team management side, including winning Le Mans. He is currently engaged on preparing a Ferrari for the Grand Am series.
The Nurburgring 24 Hour has been run and won, with BMW victorious, but only just. Audi's challenge faltered with accidents and mechanical problems, and in a shape of things to come the race was led up to the 23rd hour by a Porsche GT3 R Hybrid. The car uses the flywheel regenerative system developed but not used by the Williams F1 team last year, and is rumored to be coming to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta later this year.
The WSB round at Kyalami was also run last weekend with the second race especially producing some great racing. Congratulations Leon Haslam, your dad must be proud. Nice to see Troy Corser on the BMW hanging in there, and let's hope they can coax a bit more speed out of that machine to let him get amongst the front runners.
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