Categories
2018 Racing Season

F1 2018 – A Glance in the Mirror

The 2018 racing season has come and gone like Jean Alesi entering the stadium at the old Hockenheimring in the ‘94 Ferrari V-12, blasting past the start finish line at 16,000 rpm and motoring off into the forest for another 1:45 lap.   As we head into the dark days of winter, it’s time for a little reflection to make sense of this latest chapter of the motor racing saga.

 

So what did we learn?  

 

First and foremost, we were reminded that Hamilton and Mercedes are just a little better than Vettel and Ferrari.  I think it’s safe to say that Ferrari arrived in Melbourne in 2017 and 2018 with a slightly better package than Mercedes, but throughout the course of 21 races, Hamilton has been the more consistent operator and Mercedes has gained the edge in the development war.  In fact, there is a trend here that Ferrari will need to address if the Scuderia intend to win another title. Namely, how they interpret the FIA imposed two week summer break. From the outside, it seems like Ferrari goes into the tank each year after the break while Mercedes discover their sweet spot.  Can it be as simple as the Italian based team spending their two weeks bobbing in waves and sipping cocktails while Toto has a secret command center in a small barn in the German countryside where engineers are hard at work 24/7?

 

Check out these numbers-  Through Hungary 2017 and 2018 combined points:

 

Vettel 391

Lewis 401

 

Post Hungary combined points:

 

Vettel 246

Lewis 370

 

To hammer this point home, Lewis has won 11 GP’s after the break to Vettel’s 2, while their pre-break totals are Lewis 9 wins to Vettel’s 8.  This can’t all be down to the circuits in the second half of the season favoring the handling characteristics of the Mercedes over the Ferrari.  There is something else at play here that needs to be examined in more detail. I’m not a sports psychologist, but I have a blog so that makes me qualified to offer my professional opinion on the psychological battle between our two championship protagonists.

 

Here then is the B.E.V Hot Take brought to you by Hanks’s CD’s and VHS Tapes:  Life looks to be one big celebrity jet setting adventure for Lewis while Vettel appears to prefer the quiet life.  Yet when they turn up to the track, it is Lewis who is better able to absorb the pressure and make the correct split second critical decisions that win races and championships.  My advice for Vettel: Quit playing with your garden gnomes and get out to the nearest fashion shows and nightclubs. And while you are at it, get a few tats and date a pop star or two.  Trust me, the weekend at the race track will feel like a pressure free relaxing getaway after all that chaos and you may quit spinning the car out every time you make a little contact.

 

What else?

 

The pursuit of the mythical Triple Crown is alive and well and Fernando Alonso is knocking at the door.  To recap, winning the triple crown of racing involves winning Monaco, Indy and LeMans. Graham Hill is the only driver who has captured this impressive trio to date.  After seeing the way Alonso adapted to driving at the speedway in 2017, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him join Mr Hill in the Triple Crown Club someday in the near future, but winning Indy involves a lot of luck.  Case in point, Mario and Michael Andretti only have 1 win in a combined 45 attempts at the brickyard.

 

Contemplating Alonso’s run at the triple crown and his recent test in the #48 Cup car has me thinking about a few recent drivers with cool well rounded resumes.  We know about the legendary exploits of Mario, AJ, Gurney, Clark and Stewart, who participated in a period when the drivers were men and they would race anything with four wheels and an engine, but here are a few of my favorite modern day all rounders:

 

Juan Pablo Montoya:  F3000 champ, CART champ, Indy 500 Champ, Monaco winner, NASCAR Cup winner, Daytona 24hr winner.  He may be missing the LeMans win, but when you add in a Nascar Cup win, that puts JPM in the Mario-Gurney class.  Shoot this guy was/is so good he tied Dixon for the 2015 Indycar championship and would have won it if not for the silly double points season finale at Sears Point.  

 

Jacques Villeneuve: CART champ, Indy 500 champ, F1 champ, LeMans runner-up, pole sitter and podium finisher in NASCAR nationwide series, made starts in just about every other series under the sun including Nascar Cup, Aussie V8 Supercar, FE, World Rallycross, etc.  Love him or hate him, a young Jacques was exciting.

 

Nelson Piquet Jr:  Okay I can hear you crying foul over this call but look at the total body of work.  South American F3 champ, British F3 champ, F3000 runner up, F1 podium finisher, Nascar Craftsman Truck winner, Nascar Nationwide winner, FE champ, 4th overall in Global Rallycross, many other starts across numerous disciplines.  Young Piquet even randomly entered the 2015 Toronto Indy Lights race for Carlin and put the car on pole but was taken out in the race.

 

Tony Stewart:  Sprint car champ, Indycar Champ, NASCAR champ

 

Robbie Gordon:  CART winner, Nascar Cup winner, BAJA off road legend.  I still think this guy had the natural talent of anybody.

 

Mattias Ekstrom:  DTM champ, World Rallycross champ, two NASCAR Cup starts.

 

Other cool feats:

 

F1 & Indy Car champ:  Emmo, Nige, Mario, JV

F1 & MotoGP champ:  John Surtees

 

Lake Speed – 1978 World Karting champ over Senna and Nascar Cup winner

 

AJ Allmendinger – Atlantic Champ, CART winner, Nascar Cup winner, Daytona 24hr winner

 

Whenever I get into this mode I start to daydream about what Senna would have done post F1.  Would he still be showing up today and strapping on the overalls in IMSA or WEC? Can you imagine how cool it would have been watching him in sports cars or the 500?  Just the thought of seeing him at Laguna in the fan friendly US paddock has me giddy. What a catastrophic loss for all of mankind.

 

Moving Along……

 

When did the FIA announce that there was an official F1.5 series?  Over the past two seasons, there has only been two podiums outside of the Big 3 teams.  Two! And they were both luck jobs (Stroll ‘17, Perez ‘18) at Baku due to the chaotic nature of the circuit.  What blows me away is that we are not talking about the mid 80’s when half the teams were operating on a shoestring budget with a leased Cosworth V8 competing against McLaren and Williams with majorly funded factory turbo motors.  No, we are talking about Williams, McLaren and a factory Renault effort with works engine deals struggling to stay on the same lap in a race. McLaren has the same engine and rubber as Red Bull with Fernando Alonso peddling the car and they can’t stay on the same lap?  Amazing. At least this year the F1.5 action was closely fought and enjoyable to watch. Per the FIA points, Nico Hulkenberg is the 2018 F1.5 World Driving Champion and Renault are the Constructors Champions. Now if you removed the Big 3 from all races that may change the points, but I would need an intern to do those calculations so instead here are the win totals for F1.5

 

Hulkenberg – 6

Perez – 3

Alonso – 2

Gasly -2

Magnussen – 2

Ocon – 2

Leclerc – 2

Grosjean – 1

Sainz – 1

 

Now that’s more like it!  I’m getting a Nico ‘18 F1.5 WDC T-Shirt printed immediately.

On a personal level, I was fortunate enough to spend 2 days at the Long Beach GP, 2 days at the Portland Indycar weekend and 3 days at COTA for the USGP.  Great events all. Long Beach is still the quintessential street event in the US, PIR is still a fan friendly mellow facility in a beautiful setting with a great race track and in COTA, F1 has found a great home.  

 

Tips:

 

LBGP- Sit down at Turn 1 in Grandstand #40 as high as you can get for the race.  During practice, watch the cars from the elevated walking area on the inside of turn 8 and go stand down along the fence at turn 10.  During breaks, check out the expo center and the IMSA paddock. For food and beverage, walk into the harbor and you will have all sorts of choices at regular prices.  In other words, you can probably save $10 for a beer just for walking an additional ¼ mile. Enjoy the local SoCal flavor.

 

Portland – Sit in the Festival Chicane (C-3) as high as you can get for the race.  For practice, walk the entire track and make sure to stand on the outside of T9-10 to get a feel for the speed of the cars and commitment of the drivers.  Buy a paddock pass, take the Portland local rail to the circuit from downtown, and enjoy the outdoors.

 

COTA- Sit in Grandstand 12 down near the apex of T12 for the race.  During practice, walk the T3-7 esses and stand on the berm at the entry to T19.  Be prepared to be blown away. I’ve seen everything on 4 wheels and these current cars are shocking to witness in person.  The cornering capabilities defy the laws of physics. During downtime (and there is way too much downtime for the F1 weekend) seek the Pakistani family food truck on the soccer field and enjoy the best Shawarma you’ve ever had.  After the race on Sunday, walk the main straight and then go check out the local bands set up on the outside of the track at various points having nice little jams.

 

And now for the moment of truth.  Each season I put my esteemed rep on the line by picking the the entire F1 grid;

 

Here were the top 10 pre-season picks:

 

  1. Hamilton – 7 wins
  2. Vettel – 5 wins
  3. Verstappen – 5 wins
  4. Bottas – 2 wins
  5. Ricciardo – 2 wins
  6. Kimi
  7. Alonso
  8. Sainz
  9. Hulkenberg
  10. Ocon

 

And here is the reality:

 

  1. Hamilton – 11 wins
  2. Vettel – 5 wins
  3. Kimi – 1 win
  4. Verstappen – 2 wins
  5. Bottas
  6. Ricciardo – 2 wins
  7. Hulkenberg
  8. Perez
  9. Magnussen
  10. Sainz

 

Postmortem: My hopes of a Max championship charge were dashed early on due to poor driving and the down on power Renault engine.  From the summer break on he was back on form and should have won Brazil if it wasn’t for that meddling Ocon. Next year! Lewis wasn’t into sharing the spoils with Bottas this year and reached a level that left the paddock in awe and likely left his teammate thinking about life after F1.   In the 1.5 field, McLaren were a major letdown and Renault were the most consistent performer. I’m honored to say that I got to witness Kimi defy the odds and win his 21st gp. Props also to my preseason #16 pick Magnussen and preseason #19 pick Leclerc for making me look like a proper fool.  

 

Looking to 2019, the revamped driver lineups have me counting the days to Melbourne.

 

Mercedes:  Lewis vs Bottas

Ferrari:  Vettel vs Leclerc

Red Bull: Verstappen vs Gasly

Renault:  Hulkenberg vs Ricciardo

Haas:  Magnussen vs Grosjean

McLaren:  Sainz vs Norris

Force India:  Perez vs Stroll

Sauber:  Kimi vs Giovinazzi

Torro Rosso:  Kyvat vs Albon

Williams:  Kubica vs Russell

 

A Christmas Wish List:  

  • A harmonious mating of the Red Bull chassis and Honda powerplant
  • Revised aero that actually works and allows closer racing
  • Leclerc magic
  • Kubica on pace with Russell
  • More than 1 podium for the 1.5 class

 

In Indycar, I’m counting the days to see Rosenqvist and O’Ward get in there and mix it up with the old guard.  

 

Now, it’s time for hibernation.  Until March.

 

Categories
2015 Racing Season

Indycar Recap

I’ll admit it, I’ve been suffering from a severe case of summer writer’s block.  I’ve got a backlog of post ideas floating around my head, ranging from a look back at the gorgeous Ferrari 643 to unveiling the Top 5 Studio Drummers of the 70’s, but I just haven’t been able to wrest the cold beer from my hands and turn the TV off long enough to get the creative juices flowing.  The primary reason is the lack of intrigue in the sporting and racing landscape of late, but I’m also placing the blame on the fact that my wife went to work for a ride sharing mobile app technology company, leaving me with morning and evening Mr Mom duties in addition to my day job. (Note: One of the perks of Mr. Mom duties is unlimited access of the Elmo song catalog.  Seriously, “Elmo’s Got the Moves” is getting more airplay in my head than The Beatles, Stones and Kinks combined.)  But witnessing the thrills, spills and heartbreak over the past fortnight in Indycar, I think it’s time for a few Indycar Random Thoughts.

Tragedy

Being a racing fan can be difficult at times.  Sadly, the emotions of losing a beloved racing driver are feelings that I’ve become accustomed to since I was a child.  I will never forget the moment in our family room when I found out that my first driving hero, Gilles Villeneuve, had perished in qualifying for the ‘82 Belgian GP in Zolder.  I had witnessed Gilles at the ‘81 & ‘82 Long Beach GP’s and had been mesmerized by his flair behind the wheel.  It was love at first sight and I quickly set about transforming my room into a mini shrine filled with posters on the walls, magazines and books in every corner, die-cast models, t-shirts, and I was eagerly counting down the days to the ‘83 LBGP.  And then I came home on a Saturday afternoon and was told by my emotional father that Gilles was gone.  “Gone?  He can’t really be gone?” I thought.  I had no experience in dealing with death of any kind other than burying a goldfish or two.  It was a surreal experience and I can remember crying a few times over my loss, but I was a resilient 11 year old and was quickly looking forward to hearing about the next race.

To this day, I still can’t stop thinking about the death of Ayrton Senna.  I’m at peace now with his passing but I could hardly function for a week after his death and from time to time I still have a good cry thinking about the man.  It’s like a part of my youth died with him and I had to grow up and become a calloused adult.  The F1 fantasy bubble that I had existed in with Ayrton, Nigel and Prost from the ages of 13-23 had burst and the sudden change was a shock to the system.  From that day on, I had to construct an emotional barrier to these drivers because I wasn’t equipped to experience sadness like I felt for Ayrton again.  The experience hardened me and made me come to view drivers as extraordinarily brave men following a passion and if they happened to perish in the car, then they went out doing what they loved and I was at peace with that.  To my young adult mind, it was a life well lived.  

A few months after Senna’s death, I used to have the following philosophical debate with fellow buzzards after a few too many cold ones:  If you could have Ayrton’s 34 great years on the planet, would you trade your life for it now, not knowing what your future is going to look like?  Of course the 23 year old me would always answer a resounding Yes!  

Even as a hardened racing fan,  I’ll never shake the images of watching Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Krosnoff, Greg Moore, Dan Wheldon, Marco Simoncelli and Justin Wilson perish on live TV.  It’s just hard to believe that a larger than life hero, someone who you feel like you know personally, can be entertaining us one second and in an instant, be lost forever.  

I was hiking solo a few days ago and was questioning how the other drivers continue on after losing one of their competitors and friends?  The scenario in my head was:  What would I do if I was riding with my mountain bike gang on Sunday and one of the guys had a large tree branch fall on his head and kill him instantly.  Would I want to go back out the next Friday with the gang and do it again?  These drivers with “The Right Stuff” certainly are a different breed.

So farewell to Justin “Badass” Wilson!  I’ve been a fan for many years, dating back to his days as the 2001 F3000 champion, and I’ve had the good fortune of witnessing him score his only World Championship Points for Jaguar in the 2003 Indy GP and podiums in Cart and Indycar at Long Beach and San Jose.  Being 6’5” myself, I immediately took a liking to a 6’4” driver who could contort his lanky frame into a chassis and still have the feel and touch in the ass, hands and feet to get it done at the highest level.  JWill joins a long list of drivers who never got a fair shake in F1, but I’ll always be confused why a few of these knucklehead Cart/Indy team owners didn’t snatch him up immediately when he crossed the pond in 2004.  Even in cars that should have been mid-pack at best, Wilson’s prodigious skills still shone through and for those of us hard-cores who truly get it, Wilson will be remembered as one of the greats of his era, right there with the Dario’s, Dixon’s and Kanaan’s of the world.  It breaks my heart that a quality man won’t get to grow old with his wife and two young daughters, but he died following his passion and we have to respect the choice that he made when he stepped into the car.  A life well lived indeed!

 

Randoms

-Moments before the Pocono race took a serious turn for the worse, I was loving PT in the booth referring to Sage Karam as “Dangerboy.”  Very appropriate for this youngster.  Cheers to NBCSN for the team that they assembled to broadcast the races.  Now if the series could just rid themselves of the ABC contract.

-I still can only watch an Indy race on the DVR.  For green flag racing, Indycar is tops in my book but the prolonged yellow is a lifesucker.  The instant I see that yellow bugger being waved I’m on the gas pedal until they are back to green.  On the road circuits, do they really need the local street sweeping crew to come out and perform a 15 minute demonstration on how to clean a racing line?  The reality is one green flag lap with Sato and Colletti in the field will bring back all the dirt and then some.  These guys are pros and can still put on a show with a little dirt to contend with.  I know that it’s difficult to concede that the brains running F1 are incredibly innovative, but Indycar needs to invest a little money into the virtual safety car idea so the races can continue to be races and not 4 heats with 3 long yellow parades.  Call me old fashioned but I think the fastest cars should win the race most of the time.  Right now it’s completely a roll of the dice.  

-Watching the three 500 mile races this year, I’m sort of amazed that there was only one fatality.  I know that sounds horrible, but these guys were racing each other inches apart for 1500 miles like the world was coming to an end.  Great viewing for us fans, but man that must be nerve wracking to compete in.  I still can’t stop thinking about the fact that during one of the restarts at Pocono, they were running 7 wide {7 WIDE} at over 200mph for turn 1.  Besides watching Isle of Man TT videos on YouTube, 7 WIDE is the craziest thing we’ll witness this or any motorsports season.  Seriously, if Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel were to just go 3 wide at Monza this weekend, books would be written about it 30 years from now celebrating the great 3 wide battle at Monza.  Come on with 7 wide already!  

-Scott Dixon is the perfect driver for Indycar’s Roll The Dice Racing.  He’s as safe as they come, can put the hammer down or coast with the best of them, and doesn’t get too rattled when he suddenly finds himself in P15 after dominating the first 20 laps due to getting caught out in a yellow.  4 titles and counting for the likable Kiwi.  I’ll be surprised if he’s not a 6 timer before hanging up the helmet.

-Mike Hull and the Target Box Crew are also the best in the business.  It’s sort of amazing how they continually pull one over on the Penske brain-trust.  The championship winning pit stop where Dixon jumped Power and Newgarden was a thing of beauty and their ability to get Kimball and TK into the top 4 to give Dixon the cover he needed was phenomenal teamwork.    Since Penske, Ganassi and Andretti all defected from CART to Indycar, Ganassi has produced 7 driving champions, Andretti 4 and Penske 2.

-Revelation of the Year:  Newgarden is a quick as anybody in the field and should be hired by a top team immediately.  Or, Gene Haas should snap him up for the new USF1 team and get him alongside Vergne or Buemi.

-Surprise of the Year:  Rahal and his team totally elevated their game and carried the fight for Honda against the Chevy armada.  Graham was a man possessed with some drives for the ages and seeing him whip the local Ohioans into a frenzy usually only witnessed for Euro megastars at Mid-O was exactly the sort of the development that Indycar needs to get back into the spotlight.  Maybe the fact that Graham’s fiance, Courtney Force, drives a 8,000 horsepower funny car for her day job spurred Graham on to greatness?  It must be amusing to listen to their Sunday evening debriefs.

-Disappointment of the Year:  Simon Pagenaud’s first year at Penske was shit.  I honestly thought the Frenchman was immediately going to be the Dixon-esque driver that Penske has been seeking and was going to be the perfect blend of speed, engineering smarts and poise.  I don’t know what just happened but here’s to hoping he gets a new engineer and crew manager for 2016.

-Worst Driver of the Year:  Stefano Coletti.  Indycars are heavy and difficult to drive and the Monaco native simply could not adapt.  He’s very fortunate to be going home with his brain and body still intact.

-Final thought:  It was great to see JPM get his game back and lead the title fight from St Pete’s until the final lap of the final race, but I feel like Juan went into point protect mode way too early this year and it ultimately cost him the title.  The man is a fighter and it was painful to watch him cruise around for points.  It was like the football prevent defense that always backfires. Penske needs to just let the Columbian charge and the points will take care of themselves.  

Here’s to hoping for a continuation of this mega battle next season and added races at Road America, Phoenix and Mexico City.

I am Indy!

 

justin-wilson-jaguar_3341618

 

 

 

Wilson