The Canadian Grand Prix
Being Canada is not easy. If you share a border with by far and away the world's most powerful and richest nation it is difficult to carve out a distinctive national identity. Mexico is able to do it because the ethnic influence of the indigenous Mexicans is significantly more pronounced than that of the native Americans and native Canadians. And Mexico is unashamedly Spanish. With a similar colonial history to that of its neighbour to the south and the same cultural domination by the Anglo-Saxons that one sees across the United States, what about Canada makes it unique? The Canadians hit upon a handy solution a long time ago: royalty. "Well, at least we are not ruled by some swaggering Texan who cannot string sentences together," they say to themselves, "our Head of State is none other than the epitome of nobility, Her Majesty The Queen. So there!"
This seemingly handy solution is blighted by a couple of factors. First and most thorny is the Gallic problem. The French have never been too keen on British rule. Nor have the British ever taken very kindly to French ideas about the world. It is no coincidence that Waterloo Station - London's monument to England's defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte - is the railway terminus at which one boards trains going from London through the Channel Tunnel to Paris. The French Canadians do not particularly enjoy handing over dollar bills with Her Majesty's face staring up at them and have repeatedly threatened to take their province, Quebec, into independence. But independence from whom exactly? Canada, Britain or the United States? The second factor is that, in a country a few thousand miles down under, a gang of ex-British convicts have made a far better attempt at asserting their individuality than the Canadians ever will. So what to do then? Well, there is one thing the Canadians do which impresses even the Americans: they host a rather good Grand Prix in Montreal each year! It is a perfect idea. Two birds are felled with one stone. For one glorious weekend the world looks at Canada as Canada and not as USA-lite. At the same time the French are kept happy because the race takes place in Quebec. QED.
It is not receiving pleasure in the misery of other human beings that makes me enjoy crashes. But I do. I simply love them. Nothing spices up a race better than a good crash or two. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal is famous for many things but one more than any other: you are almost guaranteed a crash in a race at this circuit. There are two "crash points". The first is the extremely tight first corner. The second is the final corner which, if misjudged, eliminates cars in an inconveniently located wall. It has been affectionately named the "Wall of Champions" since the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix when three world champions - Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve - destroyed their cars by smashing into it. The Wall of Champions put paid to Jenson Button's lead from pole last year. It was also responsible for the only mistake Fernando Alonso made in an otherwise flawless championship winning season. Expect some metal and carbon fibre to be wrecked by the Wall of Champions on Sunday.
Alonso's mistake in Canada last season will be weighing heavily on his mind as he travels to Montreal this weekend. It is psychologically important for him to beat Michael Schumacher in the Canadian Grand Prix for Schumacher's record there ranks with the Gods. No man but Michael Schumacher has won any Grand Prix more than six times. That is a bridge too far for mere mortals. There are three circuits at which Michael Schumacher has won not six but seven Grands Prix: San Marino, France and Canada. If Schumacher wins on Sunday he will create yet another unattainable record: eight wins of the same Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso must not let it happen.
It isn't just Alonso determined to upset the German mastery of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Last year's winner, Kimi Raikkonen, enjoys the speed of the circuit. He is also rather partial to the racy nightlife in Montreal. Raikkonen is sitting pretty at the moment. Rumour has it that he is mulling over two job offers for 2007; one from Ferrari and the other from Renault. He could not have dreamed up a more convenient quandary. Which team should he choose? Both are offering top dollar (Renault finally grew up and realised that they had to open their wallets if they wanted talent), both are superbly reliable and both are capable of providing him with the machinery with which to win the world championship. Does he go for the flair and romance of Ferrari or does he fall into the arms of the well oiled, efficient Renault. Tricky one. I will not be surprised if Raikkonen's final decision rests on whether Michael Schumacher elects to carry on at Ferrari for another couple of seasons (which, I fear, he well may). If you want a crack at the championship you are not going to get it by joining Team-Schumacher. Certainly not.
Kimi Raikkonen's good fortune is Fernando Alonso's ill luck. He is grabbing this season by the neck because he knows there is some urgency to winning a second championship at the end of it. Alonso knows that his decision to move to McLaren may cost him dearly next year - especially with Kimi Raikkonen in the driving seat of a Renault or a Ferrari. I am convinced that Raikkonen would have won last year's championship if McLaren had provided him with a car that didn't keep breaking down. I am sure Alonso knows this better than anybody else. Both Renault and Alonso must be kicking themselves. Had Renault seen sense at the end of last year and agreed to pay Alonso what he was worth, he would not have signed with McLaren. Why would anyone in their right mind leave a generous and successful team? As things turned out Alonso's action, in an uncharacteristic fit of pique, may affect his ultimate destiny as a member of that pantheon I keep talking about.
Much hinges on this weekend. Arm yourself with a good Canadian brew (there are hundreds - have a look at this: http://www.realbeer.com/canada/) and,
Enjoy Canada
Gitau
21 June 2006
PS The race is on at the same time as the England v Ecuador second round, knockout World Cup match. Here is the Gitau test: which will you record and which will you watch?
This seemingly handy solution is blighted by a couple of factors. First and most thorny is the Gallic problem. The French have never been too keen on British rule. Nor have the British ever taken very kindly to French ideas about the world. It is no coincidence that Waterloo Station - London's monument to England's defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte - is the railway terminus at which one boards trains going from London through the Channel Tunnel to Paris. The French Canadians do not particularly enjoy handing over dollar bills with Her Majesty's face staring up at them and have repeatedly threatened to take their province, Quebec, into independence. But independence from whom exactly? Canada, Britain or the United States? The second factor is that, in a country a few thousand miles down under, a gang of ex-British convicts have made a far better attempt at asserting their individuality than the Canadians ever will. So what to do then? Well, there is one thing the Canadians do which impresses even the Americans: they host a rather good Grand Prix in Montreal each year! It is a perfect idea. Two birds are felled with one stone. For one glorious weekend the world looks at Canada as Canada and not as USA-lite. At the same time the French are kept happy because the race takes place in Quebec. QED.
It is not receiving pleasure in the misery of other human beings that makes me enjoy crashes. But I do. I simply love them. Nothing spices up a race better than a good crash or two. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal is famous for many things but one more than any other: you are almost guaranteed a crash in a race at this circuit. There are two "crash points". The first is the extremely tight first corner. The second is the final corner which, if misjudged, eliminates cars in an inconveniently located wall. It has been affectionately named the "Wall of Champions" since the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix when three world champions - Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve - destroyed their cars by smashing into it. The Wall of Champions put paid to Jenson Button's lead from pole last year. It was also responsible for the only mistake Fernando Alonso made in an otherwise flawless championship winning season. Expect some metal and carbon fibre to be wrecked by the Wall of Champions on Sunday.
Alonso's mistake in Canada last season will be weighing heavily on his mind as he travels to Montreal this weekend. It is psychologically important for him to beat Michael Schumacher in the Canadian Grand Prix for Schumacher's record there ranks with the Gods. No man but Michael Schumacher has won any Grand Prix more than six times. That is a bridge too far for mere mortals. There are three circuits at which Michael Schumacher has won not six but seven Grands Prix: San Marino, France and Canada. If Schumacher wins on Sunday he will create yet another unattainable record: eight wins of the same Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso must not let it happen.
It isn't just Alonso determined to upset the German mastery of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Last year's winner, Kimi Raikkonen, enjoys the speed of the circuit. He is also rather partial to the racy nightlife in Montreal. Raikkonen is sitting pretty at the moment. Rumour has it that he is mulling over two job offers for 2007; one from Ferrari and the other from Renault. He could not have dreamed up a more convenient quandary. Which team should he choose? Both are offering top dollar (Renault finally grew up and realised that they had to open their wallets if they wanted talent), both are superbly reliable and both are capable of providing him with the machinery with which to win the world championship. Does he go for the flair and romance of Ferrari or does he fall into the arms of the well oiled, efficient Renault. Tricky one. I will not be surprised if Raikkonen's final decision rests on whether Michael Schumacher elects to carry on at Ferrari for another couple of seasons (which, I fear, he well may). If you want a crack at the championship you are not going to get it by joining Team-Schumacher. Certainly not.
Kimi Raikkonen's good fortune is Fernando Alonso's ill luck. He is grabbing this season by the neck because he knows there is some urgency to winning a second championship at the end of it. Alonso knows that his decision to move to McLaren may cost him dearly next year - especially with Kimi Raikkonen in the driving seat of a Renault or a Ferrari. I am convinced that Raikkonen would have won last year's championship if McLaren had provided him with a car that didn't keep breaking down. I am sure Alonso knows this better than anybody else. Both Renault and Alonso must be kicking themselves. Had Renault seen sense at the end of last year and agreed to pay Alonso what he was worth, he would not have signed with McLaren. Why would anyone in their right mind leave a generous and successful team? As things turned out Alonso's action, in an uncharacteristic fit of pique, may affect his ultimate destiny as a member of that pantheon I keep talking about.
Much hinges on this weekend. Arm yourself with a good Canadian brew (there are hundreds - have a look at this: http://www.realbeer.com/canada/) and,
Enjoy Canada
Gitau
21 June 2006
PS The race is on at the same time as the England v Ecuador second round, knockout World Cup match. Here is the Gitau test: which will you record and which will you watch?
posted by Gitau at 11:52 am
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