Categories
2017 Racing Season

Find Your Way Back

Last weekend I rubbed shoulders with Mika Hakkinen at Laguna Seca, booked a trip to Austin for the USGP, moved into first place of my hotly contested racing fantasy league and watched an amazing Indycar show at the tricky triangle.  The previous weekend I was inspired by the Marquez/Dovi duel at the Red Bull Ring and Kyle Larsen’s mind melting feat of 2nd at The Knoxville Nationals in a 410 Winged sprinter on a Saturday night and 1st the next day in The Cup race at Michigan.  And do I need to remind anybody that Spa is this weekend?  I guess what I’m trying to say is motorsport has found it’s way back into my heart and I’m feeling the need to peck the keys and preach the good word.

 

Motorsport, This song’s for you!

So where do I start?  I have such a blank canvas to work with here.  Because modern motorsports takes quite a bashing on a regular basis, I’ll begin my soliloquy with all the good that exists out there.  

 

The Good

 

We have a legit title fight on our hands in F1 between Vettel and Hamilton!  We’re talking Ferrari vs Mercedes.  Two drivers at the top of their game with a combined 7 world titles already in their trophy cases having at it not just to be the 2017 champion, but to improve upon their place in the Pantheon of the Greats.  Lewis has been sublime on Saturdays with 6 poles to Vettel’s 2, but Seb has been the more consistent operator of the two when it counts and they are currently level at 4 wins apiece.  They started the year a little too friendly towards each-other for my liking, but after rubbing wheels at Barcelona and Lewis then giving Seb the infamous Baku Brake Test, which brought out another episode of “Seb’s Gone Wild” from the normally happy go lucky German, it’s now game on for the final 9 races.  

  • Prediction:  Lewis wins 4, Seb 2, Bottas 2, Max 1.  Trophy to Lewis!!  (Thank God they don’t have a Ladbrokes down the street)

 

Fernando Alonso!  You would think that with a best finish of 6th in 11 races and a DNF at Indy, this year would be considered a complete and utter catastrophe for the Spaniard.  While it must be incredibly frustrating to be in Alonso’s shoes, his reputation as the best in the business has actually gained momentum.  His entire month of May at Indy was just a thing of beauty.  He quickly assimilated to the hang loose world of Indycar and was peddling that cool looking McLaren-orange Dallara like a seasoned Brickyard vet in a matter of hours. In the race he was going to be right there at the finish if it wasn’t for yet another Honda, albeit a HPD built motor, going kablamo and leaving him walking back to the paddock to a rousing standing

A Little R&R
A Little R&R

ovation from the locals  In his regular job, ALO has crushed his highly regarded rookie teammate Stoffel Van Doorne, climbed into a grandstand in Montreal to chill with his peeps after a DNF, set the fastest lap of the race in Budapest and then stole the parc ferme show by reenacting a scene from Brazil last year when he decided to sun himself in a lounge chair after being stranded out on track yet again.  Bravo Mr Alonso for showing us your prodigious skills and newfound sense of humor.

 

Sato wins Indy!  If you have been a regular reader of this blog over the past 5 years, you will know the great admiration that I have for Japanese F1 drivers of the past.  When pressed for my top 5 of all time, Sato is #2 behind the almost mythical Ukyo Katayama.  Witnessing Sato make an outside turn 1 pass stick in the closing stages of The 500 and cross

Ukyo The Great
Ukyo The Great

the row of bricks to take the checkered flag was certainly the high point of my season and something I will not soon forget.

 

Robert Kubica is back!  No not back in a rally car or touring car or some wacky WEC prototype, Kubica is back and ready to resume his F1 career that was tragically cut short six years ago.  After what at first seemed like a publicity stunt by the Renault team to give their former driver a go in a 2012 machine at Valencia, Kubica stunned when he immediately got down to business and made easy work of their regular test driver on hand with no ill effects from the injured arm.  Things really got serious when Kubica was called into the post Budapest test a few weeks back in the 2017 car and he acquitted himself very well.  Considering that he had never sat in the car prior to the test, he was able to do a couple of race distances without putting a wheel wrong and proved that if he can Kubicahandle the Hungaroring, then he’s fit to go.  We at Bulseyeview are hoping and praying that Renault does the right thing and hires the Pole for 2018.  

 

Indycar has a 5 man battle for the title with 3 races remaining and a new bonafide American star!  The Newgarden/Penske combo has the look and feel of a budding dynasty and Jo New’s pass on Power at Mid-Ohio must have made Nigel Mansell drop his 5-iron and applaud.  That fake to the left and cross-over to the right was right out of the Nigel playbook.  Alexander Rossi is also looking like Honda’s favorite son so we may soon see the day of Rossi in a Honda vs Newgarden in a Chevy fighting for Indy glory.  It will be Mikey vs Little Al, Mears vs Sneva, AJ vs Parnelli all over again.  On second thought……..

  • Prediction- Jo New will do just enough to hold off that wily Dixon at the treacherous double point finale at Sears Pt.  Chip will then fire Kanaan, Chilton and Kimball for not looking out for their mate.  Michael Andretti will switch to Chevy, leaving Rossi and Sato to join Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist at Ganassi.

 

Like Indycar, MotoGP also has a 5 man battle for the title with plenty of races still on the calendar!  Marquez, Maverick and Dovi each have 3 wins while Rossi and Dani P are hanging around and staying within striking distance.  Johann Zarco has also shown that he is a man to be reckoned with in the future with a few brilliant rides.  These riders are the last of the maniacs in motorsport and we are lucky to have them in our midst

  • Prediction- When Marquez is not sliding into the gravel on his rear end he’s next to impossible to defeat, so I’m going Marquez, Maverick and Dovi.   

 

Other good things worthy of a mention:  

  • Force India continuing to punch above their budget as best of the rest and their driver combo of Perez and Ocon pushing each other to the limit (and sometimes beyond)
  • Carlos Sainz P9 overall in a Toro Rosso
  • Kyle Larson taking Nascar by storm
  • Indycar rolling out a 2018 car that looks cool and based on Montoya’s feedback, should put more emphasis on driver skill
  • Pirelli World Challenge continuing to gather momentum
  • Penske announcing a full fledged assault on IMSA’s top prototype class with two factory Acura’s, one driven by JPM and Dane Cameron
  • Felix Rosenqvist driving everything under the sun and winning wherever he turns up.
  • Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris looking like the surefire can’t miss next Max Verstappens
  • Next generation drivers with names such as Alesi and Herta winning races in competitive series.
  • The Road to Indy Mazda ladder system  
  • Kamui Kobayashi

 

The Bad

 

Hands down, the most disappointing aspect of the 2017 season is Red Bull’s lack of pace.  If we were treated to Max and Ricciardo mixing it with the Mercs and Ferrari’s on a week in and week out basis, this season would be epic.  I really do think that these two drivers are the key to take F1 to the next level.  Max is like a ticking time bomb ready to go Senna all over us and Ricciardo is the right there in the Lewis, Alonso, Vettel class.  They started the season about 30 seconds slower over a race distance and have more than halved that gap, so if we can just find a few more tenths here and there then they are going to make life miserable for the boys in Silver and Red.  Tickets to Spa are sold out with the Max Army arriving in force so one can only hope that the game begins on Sunday.  

 

Seb Bourdais breaking his pelvis while attempting to qualify for The 500.  Leading up to Indy, Bourdais had been the feel good story of the year for Dale Coyne Racing.  Reunited with his engineer Craig Hampson from their glory days at Newman Haas, they started out the year with amazing strategy calls and won at Homestead and then followed it up with a 2nd at Long Beach.  At Indy, Bourdais had a rocketship and would have likely been a contender for the Borg-Warner trophy until his wicked crash put an end to his season.

 

Quick Easy Quiz to see if you are paying attention: (see answers at the bottom)

 

  1. Name 5 former Indycar winners who sported glasses?
  2. Where was Mika Hakkinen’s first GP?
  3. Who has more Knoxville National Titles between Sammy Swindell and Danny “The Dude” Lasoski?
  4. Did Max Verstappen win the 2014 Euro F3 Title?
  5. Who won the 2017 Long Beach GP?

 

A couple of other bad things to mention:

 

  • The tragic passing of Nicky Hayden from a bicycle accident.  After all of those brutal falls at high speeds, a fricken bicycle accident?  RIP Kentucky Kid.
  • Pay drivers (yes I’m talking to you Lance)
  • Quiet F1 engines
  • DRS zones. Do you remember the days when a pass was a pass?  Think Prost/Senna Portugal ‘88 or Montoya/Schumacher Brazil 2001 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikq2G-qakY)
  • Fuel Saving
  • The Nascar debri yellow with 10 to go
  • Halos.  These guys signed up for danger so let’s keep it that way
  • Dirty Air

 

A final thought.  Every week it seems like a new major manufacturer is planning to join Formula E.  This almost feels like the manufacturer led breakaway series that we were hearing about a few years back.  The current on track product certainly doesn’t merit being considered a threat to F1, but when you see that Mercedes is dropping the DTM to go electric racing, Porsche is disbanding their Le Mans program to join the fray, BMW is on board, Jaguar, Renault, etc., suddenly this becomes a big deal.  The manufactures will want to win, drivers will want to get paid and the big independents like McLaren and Williams may see this as a new revenue stream for their coffers.  Even Ferrari is turning to hybrid technology for their road cars.  So what if we suddenly see a Max Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo decide to spearhead a Porsche or Mercedes entry for top $$?  Will that start the fan migration over to the E-side?  I currently don’t watch E but do closely follow their results because the driver lineup is very impressive.  I would say top to bottom, FE is  is on par with Indycar at the moment.  If suddenly a few major stars are in the field, my curiosity would be too much to resist.  Say what you will, but my estimation is 70% of the people who are sitting in the grandstands or watching at home are doing so because of their allegiance to the drivers.  I want to see the best, so if suddenly the best are in FE, that could spell big trouble for F1 as we know it.

 

The Lights Go Out and ……….WHOOSH!!

 

Enjoy the Races!

 

Quiz Ans:  1. Rahal, Moore, PT, Bourdais, JV.  2. Phoenix ‘91. 3. “The Dude”. 4. No – Ocon. 5. Hinch

 

Rare Condor Sighting!
Rare Condor Sighting

 

You Sure You Want to Do This Mika?
You Sure You Want to Do This Mika?

 

Categories
2017 Racing Season

F1 2017

If intrigue, excitement and drama are your thing, then F1 2017 may just be the show you’ve been waiting for.  The immortal David Bowie summed up this new season best with the simple lyric:  

 

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

 

Mercedes enjoyed three years of complete domination with a relatively stable rules platform, so it was time to wad up those regulations and toss them in the bin and start again with a clean sheet of paper. The result is we now have cars that look fast standing still, rear tires so wide I sometimes think I’m looking at James Hunt wheeling the ‘76 McLaren, and lap times that will likely make these the fastest road circuit cars ever produced by man. It appears that the FIA came to the same conclusion that fans throughout the world had discovered, F1 had lost it’s edge and something drastic needed to be done.  It’s still the pinnacle of motorsport with technologically insane cars being driven by fantastic drivers, but the sights, speeds and sounds no longer elicited F1 worthy passion among the paying customers.

 

F1 cars had also become too easy for a professional driver to handle, so now we have cars with a little beast in them that may test a drivers mental and physical abilities to the max.  Remember when drivers used to occasionally pass out after climbing out their cars (think Nelson Piquet in the ‘82 Brazilian GP), let’s hope for punch drunk drivers climbing the podium steps on buckling knees.  

 

Year over year change among drivers and staffers is the norm in the vagabond world of the F1 paddock, but this year is just downright crazy:

 

  • Button is retired and living in LA
  • Manor has gone the way of AGS, Coloni and Forti Corse and is now history
  • Williams have a driver (Lance Stroll) who was born the year that Hakkinen won his first title
  • Paddy Lowe is a Williams employee
  • James Allison is a Mercedes employee
  • Ron Dennis (The Ron Dennis) has been ousted at McLaren and replaced by American Zak Brown??
  • The reigning world champ, Nico Rosberg, is home changing diapers
  • The cars are 4-5 seconds per lap faster
  • AND BERNIE HAS BEEN OUSTED (by Americans no less)

 

Much has been written about Bernie, but here is my two cents:  Bernie has to be considered among the greatest negotiators and marketeers in modern history.  He took a Euro-centric sport with a passionate fan base and brought it to the world in the form of a slick two hour TV show that has been second in viewership only to soccer for 30+ years.  When I went to my first GP in 1981 at Long Beach, it didn’t seem a whole lot different than going to a Can-Am race at Laguna.  For a few extra bucks we could walk into the garage and stand over the informal Ferrari mechanics prepping Gilles Villeneuve’s car for practice or get Alain Prost to sign a hat.  Believe it or not, at the end of the weekend the mechanics would sell the shirts off their back or spare car parts just to make a few extra bucks.   What Bernie did, for better or worse, was take F1 and package it as a super exclusive, luxury product that appealed one’s desires.  It was sex, danger, and immaculately prepared exotic cars racing on immaculately prepared racing circuits in glamorous spots around the globe.  Only the rich and powerful or the beautiful could be granted access to the inside to rub shoulders with the great men who had the courage and skill to drive these cars.  Big time companies flocked to get their names in front of this massive audience and the marketing dollars spent promoting this brand, especially in the tobacco days, was staggering.  Team owners, engineers and drivers in the span of a decade went from hard core racers with dirt under their fingernails to filthy rich celebs receiving knighthoods.  Bernie had so much leverage he could threaten race promoters who were resisting his exorbitant race fees by yanking them off the calendar and replacing them with government backed races in developing countries that would pay anything just to be included in the exclusive club.   

 

I once read an interview with Eddie Jordan where he said something to the effect that Bernie even managed to sell F1 twice during his reign to venture companies for astounding profits, only to repurchase the shares back for pennies on the dollar in negotiations so clever that there should be a case study in all business schools for the next 50 years.  

 

But as Bernie’s empire was chugging along seemingly unchallenged, the world changed with the advent of the internet and social media.  Suddenly the common man had thousands of entertainment options at his fingertips and F1 had real competition. Bernie appeared to be too stubborn to react to this threat and quickly became an 86 year old out of touch with his customers.  Change was needed.  Insert Liberty Media and Chase Carey.  It seems very odd to me that an American company with zero knowledge of the sport decided to take it off Bernie’s hands and finally put him to pasture (or to a Brazilian coffee farm with his young wife to be exact), but we’ll just have to sit back and watch what happens.  In my F1 observations over 35+ years, Americans and F1 don’t go very well together so maybe we haven’t seen the last of Bernie yet.  

 

Bernie or no Bernie, the show must go on and looking ahead to the business on the track, here is what I think we know:

 

The Big Three

 

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are in a battle for supremacy.  Ferrari look like the cars to beat after 8 days of testing in Barcelona, but this is not the first time that Ferrari have won the testing world title only to fail when it really counts.  After last years debacle, it would be nice to see the Scuderia return to the front, but the competition won’t rest and the main storyline about this year is going to be about development.

 

Mercedes:  Until properly dethroned, Merc still feel like the team to beat with Lewis ready to take back the title.  Bottas should make an excellent #2 and score podiums on multiple occasions.

 

Red Bull:  No driver pairing is more exciting than Ricciardo and Verstappen.  Ricciardo seems to have the upper hand over a lap in qualifying, but Verstappen is brilliant over the course of a race.  With Newey fully back on board, I have high hopes as the year unfolds.

 

Ferrari:  Vettel went semi mad last year when things didn’t go his way and Kimi is 37, so Ferrari better hope it has the car to beat to keep these two engaged.  I don’t think they have the technical strength of the two teams above to keep pace with developments, but they may grab a few wins early on.

 

The Dirty Mid Pack

 

Force India: I love it that Force India is going pink in the name of the all mighty dollar.  In terms of dollars spent versus results on the track, this may be the best racing team in the world, but it will be tough to retain the 4th spot in the constructors championship.  But make no mistake about it, they will be easy to spot on track.  Perez is now an excellent driver in the prime of his career and Ocon is tipped to be a star so it will be fun to see these two fight it out.

 

Williams: Williams appear to have an excellent car to start the year but my concern is the drivers.  Massa was out the door on his way back to Brazil and Stroll was in F3 last year, so I have a hard time believing that these two will be extracting the max out of this package.  Those in the Pro-Massa camp point out that he was a monster in the high downforce 2008 cars so maybe these new cars will suit his style.  Stroll had a horrendous first week of testing with three offs but returned for week two as a solid performer.  “Just let the car do the work son – and keep the checks coming please.”

 

McLaren: McLaren, McLaren.  What is one to say about this downtrodden mega team?  Sure we can blame it all on Honda, but it’s sad to see Alonso and Vandoorne waste their talents with this project.  This was supposed to be the year that they threaten the big three but now it looks like a few points are all they can hope for.  

 

Toro Rosso: Toro Rosso had a pretty subdued test, but I have high hopes for Carlos Sainz with a Renault 2017 spec engine.  These guys are a clever bunch and have produced a car that looks the part of a regular point scorer.  After a tumultuous 2016, it will be interesting to see if Kvyat can settle back into just driving on the limit and forgetting about all the external BS.  That poor guy looked rattled last year after his demotion.  

 

Haas: I like this Grosjean – Magnussen pairing and with the Ferrari powerplant looking strong, these guys should be in the battle for the coveted 4th place in constructors.  One thing I don’t like is they don’t have a bunch of Billy Bobs in their crew.  Shoot they may need them this year with these bigger wheels.  Maybe the POTUS can tweet out that Haas needs American workers!

 

Renault:  The team likely to make the biggest gains this year from last year.  Renault have now had a year to hire and plan and they should start seeing results.  Hulkenberg is a top 10 talent and Palmer was showing signs of speed last year towards the end of the season.  Renault don’t often fail in their F1 forays and I would not be shocked to see this team performing as the 4th best team by years end.  

 

Sauber:  Where is Heinz Harald Frentzen when you need him?  Sauber have fallen on hard times and are now propping up the back of the grid.  They have a very fast driver in Wehrlein who occasionally had the Manor in places it had no business being in last year, and Ericsson seems to have pace, so it will be fun to see if these guys can find somebody to attack.  

 

Now, for the moment of truth, the championship predictions:

 

  1. Hamilton – 7 wins
  2. Ricciardo – 4 wins
  3. Verstappen – 3 wins
  4. Vettel – 3 wins
  5. Bottas – 2 wins
  6. Kimi – 1 win
  7. Massa
  8. Perez
  9. Sainz
  10. Ocon
  11. Hulkenberg
  12. Grosjean
  13. Stroll
  14. Kvyat
  15. Magnussen
  16. Alonso
  17. Vandoorne
  18. Palmer
  19. Wehrlein
  20. Ericsson

 

Five Other Random Predictions:

  • Verstappen gets in a punch-up with Lance Stroll after being taken out of the lead while trying to lap him
  • Chase Carey quits his job at Liberty Media after two months of dealing with the piranha club
  • Zak Brown becomes the McLaren Honda fall guy and is working for Penske by 2018
  • Bernie plots a successful coup and is back in charge by Belgium
  • Nico Rosberg signs to replace Kimi for 2018, citing new challenges

Enjoy the season!

 

Big Wheels