The Australian Grand Prix
Australians have a lot in common with the Mayor of London, a tough talking London-grown fellow called Ken Livingstone. Plain speaking is the defining characteristic of Livingstone and most Australians. To paraphrase a Welsh journalist of whom I am fond, in the mother of parliaments an honourable gentleman may be guilty of committing a terminological inexactitude. In Ken Livingstone's City Hall he is a lying, cheating scumbag whose kinship to a rat is an insult to honest vermin. Similarly, an Australian will rarely apply the effort required in circumlocution. He will tell it like it is. There is a reason for this: Britain got rid of all its baddies and shipped them to Australia a long time ago. Britain has since learned that things should have been done the other way round. Place a picture of Manchester alongside one of Melbourne and you will see what I am talking about. No wonder then that the Australian Grand Prix is one of the most glamorous events on the Formula One calendar. Its location is simply stunning.
So on we go down under for the third race of this season. If the first two are anything to go by it is too early to call this one. Renault have a good chance; two quality drivers and a very reliable car. Honda look capable for similar reasons. Ferrari have a point to prove and the cooler temperatures of the Albert Park should suit their Bridgestone tyres. McLaren too have demonstrated verve - and a very large fuel tank. Williams are showing themselves as the joker in the pack. I think I'll wait until lap 49 on Sunday before I begin making predictions about the race.
A prediction I did make a few years ago has turned out to be accurate. Everybody moaned desperately about tobacco advertising being banned. Formula One had always relied on the cigarette companies, said the nay-sayers. Lots of money was needed to keep the thing going, they argued. Stop big tobacco and kill Formula One. Well, money seems to move pretty much like cigarette smoke. Create a vacuum and it will be on hand to fill it. Williams - forever associated with Rothmans - found money from computer companies and global insurers. McLaren found it in that other nasty vice: booze. Apart from Bahrain where they were not allowed to advertise booze, McLaren now sport the famous striding figure of Johnnie Walker.
The biggest change - and the source of most of the new cash - was the arrival of the motor vehicle manufacturers. Apart from Ferrari, Formula One teams used to be small independent outfits owned by adventurers. Some were more successful than others, like Frank Williams, but most bowed out gracefully. People like Jackie Stewart, Eddie Jordan and Alain Prost - all of whom owned eponymous teams - eventually sold out when they realised that their coffers could never be large enough. In their place came the names of the manufacturers of cars we know: BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Toyota and Honda. Formula One is now closer to the world of rallying than ever before.
The reason Ferrari was different was simple: Ferrari was primarily a racing team. Selling road cars was a way of raising money for the racing team. Ferrari was invented for Formula One. The founder of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari, wanted to race a car on Sunday and then sell it to a punter on Monday. In those days F1 cars were not a world away from regular cars but the principle remains the same. The passion at team Ferrari can never be the same anywhere else simply because that is what Ferrari is about: passion. I am thinking about this because I am already thinking about next season. This season is a transitional one for me. The driver moves next year may well dictate what happens for the next four or five.
Fernando Alonso has already said he is going to McLaren. As I have mentioned earlier, the sums Renault are paying make it impossible for him to stay. I wish Renault would grow up on this, I really do. I think Alonso would do better staying at Renault. McLaren is not the team to join for two reasons. First, reliability is a major problem. Kimi Raikkonen could well be a double world champion as I write this had it not been for two seasons of appalling reliability. The second reason is simply this: Ron Dennis, the team boss, is an arsehole (I wonder what Ken Livingstone would have to say about him if he is brave enough to call the US ambassador to the Court of St James "a chiselling little crook"!). Both existing McLaren drivers will probably move next year. I think something about the Ferrari passion excites Raikkonen. I haven't worked out where I think Juan Pablo Montoya will go yet (perhaps Chipo has). I would hazard a guess and say Toyota. Toyota are seething with fury at having outspent everybody - including Ferrari - and still remained mediocre. JPM may be the jump-start they need.
I have just received an e-mail message from a buddy in Melbourne. It is raining in Melbourne and more rain is forecast for the weekend…
I don't see Castlemaine XXXX in the shops any more, so I can only recommend that you stock up on the Fosters (it is, after all, the official beer of Formula One), crack open a can or two on Sunday and,
Enjoy Melbourne!
Gitau
31 March 2006
So on we go down under for the third race of this season. If the first two are anything to go by it is too early to call this one. Renault have a good chance; two quality drivers and a very reliable car. Honda look capable for similar reasons. Ferrari have a point to prove and the cooler temperatures of the Albert Park should suit their Bridgestone tyres. McLaren too have demonstrated verve - and a very large fuel tank. Williams are showing themselves as the joker in the pack. I think I'll wait until lap 49 on Sunday before I begin making predictions about the race.
A prediction I did make a few years ago has turned out to be accurate. Everybody moaned desperately about tobacco advertising being banned. Formula One had always relied on the cigarette companies, said the nay-sayers. Lots of money was needed to keep the thing going, they argued. Stop big tobacco and kill Formula One. Well, money seems to move pretty much like cigarette smoke. Create a vacuum and it will be on hand to fill it. Williams - forever associated with Rothmans - found money from computer companies and global insurers. McLaren found it in that other nasty vice: booze. Apart from Bahrain where they were not allowed to advertise booze, McLaren now sport the famous striding figure of Johnnie Walker.
The biggest change - and the source of most of the new cash - was the arrival of the motor vehicle manufacturers. Apart from Ferrari, Formula One teams used to be small independent outfits owned by adventurers. Some were more successful than others, like Frank Williams, but most bowed out gracefully. People like Jackie Stewart, Eddie Jordan and Alain Prost - all of whom owned eponymous teams - eventually sold out when they realised that their coffers could never be large enough. In their place came the names of the manufacturers of cars we know: BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Toyota and Honda. Formula One is now closer to the world of rallying than ever before.
The reason Ferrari was different was simple: Ferrari was primarily a racing team. Selling road cars was a way of raising money for the racing team. Ferrari was invented for Formula One. The founder of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari, wanted to race a car on Sunday and then sell it to a punter on Monday. In those days F1 cars were not a world away from regular cars but the principle remains the same. The passion at team Ferrari can never be the same anywhere else simply because that is what Ferrari is about: passion. I am thinking about this because I am already thinking about next season. This season is a transitional one for me. The driver moves next year may well dictate what happens for the next four or five.
Fernando Alonso has already said he is going to McLaren. As I have mentioned earlier, the sums Renault are paying make it impossible for him to stay. I wish Renault would grow up on this, I really do. I think Alonso would do better staying at Renault. McLaren is not the team to join for two reasons. First, reliability is a major problem. Kimi Raikkonen could well be a double world champion as I write this had it not been for two seasons of appalling reliability. The second reason is simply this: Ron Dennis, the team boss, is an arsehole (I wonder what Ken Livingstone would have to say about him if he is brave enough to call the US ambassador to the Court of St James "a chiselling little crook"!). Both existing McLaren drivers will probably move next year. I think something about the Ferrari passion excites Raikkonen. I haven't worked out where I think Juan Pablo Montoya will go yet (perhaps Chipo has). I would hazard a guess and say Toyota. Toyota are seething with fury at having outspent everybody - including Ferrari - and still remained mediocre. JPM may be the jump-start they need.
I have just received an e-mail message from a buddy in Melbourne. It is raining in Melbourne and more rain is forecast for the weekend…
I don't see Castlemaine XXXX in the shops any more, so I can only recommend that you stock up on the Fosters (it is, after all, the official beer of Formula One), crack open a can or two on Sunday and,
Enjoy Melbourne!
Gitau
31 March 2006
posted by Gitau at 12:00 pm
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