Frightening Ferrari
Yesterday was the day when Ferrari struck terror into the hearts of emotional mortals such as yours truly. Ferrari do not conform to the strictures of anything. They do things their own way. Whereas teams allow cameras into their facilities and freely grant access to their team radios, Ferrari, as a rule, do not. The cry goes out from Maranello: "piss off!" Consider then my astonishment at hearing Michael Schumacher's voice addressing his pit crew as he drove his victory lap yesterday. This was calculated and deliberate. The message was clear. Ferrari intend to grind their opponents into the dust. If yesterday's demonstration was anything to go by, they will do so without even breaking a sweat. So superior was the one two of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa that it was even more pronounced than the dreadful 2002 season's performances. We are in new territory.
Fernando Alonso is rattled, not fatally, but certainly seriously unsettled. Contrary to the TV commentators (the usually excellent pairing of James Allen and Martin Brundle was atrocious yesterday - according to Chipo, the Hockenheim sun seemed to have cooked their brains and seared their eyesight in the process), There has been no drop-off in the ability or determination of the Spaniard. The problem Alonso had yesterday was manufactured for him by Renault and Michelin. Sometimes people need to be fired up by more than just technical ability. There are probably chaps at Renault's Oxfordshire headquarters who are less than happy with Alonso. I cannot help but suspect the disloyalty Alonso demonstrated in signing for McLaren so soon after becoming Renault's first champion in more than a decade caused some disquiet in the hearts of some people and continues to do so at this crucial stage in the championship. "Arsehole," was the sentiment expressed outside of earshot. "Bastard" was whispered a little more loudly. This may prove to be significant in the coming months. Six races, sixty world championship points and eleven points between the reigning champion and the German android. My thesis has ceased to hold true. I don't know whether Fernando Alonso will be world champion any more.
There is a chap who is definitely destined for great things. Kimi Raikkonen is, for me, the most outstanding driver in Formula One. Having secretly signed with Ferrari and rubbed his head between a pair of generous Italian tits, Raikkonen felt happy yesterday. Contentment oozed from every pore. Notwithstanding McLaren's inferior equipment and outrageously cock-eyed strategy, Raikkonen girded his loins and showed how to drive a race car. You want a pole position? Done. A win? Not possible with those scarlet monsters driving their own race but I will give you the next best thing: I will win race number two. You see, the Ferraris were in their own race, so Raikkonen's job was to win the other one. He did so famously. The Finn is going places. Look at his confident grin as he places his arms akimbo on the podium and you will see all you need. Observe his ability to understand that champagne is designed to be poured down one’s neck via the mouth, not for washing sweaty heads. This, remember, was a man who had literally driven the life out of his McLaren. When did you last see an engine blow up as the car entered parc ferme at the end of a Grand Prix. Raikkonen is on a mission. Ferrari will love him. Watch this space.
Another man with reason to be cheerful yesterday was English lad, Jenson Button. Had it not been for Kimi Raikkonen's daredevil overtaking ability, England would have been celebrating a good sporting weekend. Their man would have come third and earned a long awaited podium on the same weekend as England showed Pakistan a thing or two on the cricket pitch. But it was not to be. Still, Honda can take consolation from the fact that they look competitive again. Reliability issues still haunt them - witness the blow-up of Rubens Barrichello's engine - but they seem to be back where they ought to have been several months ago.
While Honda and Ferrari are moving onward and upward, Michelin have gone to sleep. Never have they needed to extract their digits more than they now need to. Fernando Alonso rescued fifth place by the skin of his teeth; such was the degradation in his tyres. His team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, could hardly keep his car on the tarmac - the tyres were that bad. Could it be perhaps Gallic fury at having lost out to the Japanese as sole tyre purveyors for next season that is causing this shocking incompetence? Is there some seething Frenchman throwing a spanner into the tyre manufacturing works? We shall soon find out…
It is becoming crucial. The omens are inauspicious. Let's hope Ferrari crash out of the Hungarian Grand Prix in a week's time. Things are not good…
Gitau
31 July 2006
Fernando Alonso is rattled, not fatally, but certainly seriously unsettled. Contrary to the TV commentators (the usually excellent pairing of James Allen and Martin Brundle was atrocious yesterday - according to Chipo, the Hockenheim sun seemed to have cooked their brains and seared their eyesight in the process), There has been no drop-off in the ability or determination of the Spaniard. The problem Alonso had yesterday was manufactured for him by Renault and Michelin. Sometimes people need to be fired up by more than just technical ability. There are probably chaps at Renault's Oxfordshire headquarters who are less than happy with Alonso. I cannot help but suspect the disloyalty Alonso demonstrated in signing for McLaren so soon after becoming Renault's first champion in more than a decade caused some disquiet in the hearts of some people and continues to do so at this crucial stage in the championship. "Arsehole," was the sentiment expressed outside of earshot. "Bastard" was whispered a little more loudly. This may prove to be significant in the coming months. Six races, sixty world championship points and eleven points between the reigning champion and the German android. My thesis has ceased to hold true. I don't know whether Fernando Alonso will be world champion any more.
There is a chap who is definitely destined for great things. Kimi Raikkonen is, for me, the most outstanding driver in Formula One. Having secretly signed with Ferrari and rubbed his head between a pair of generous Italian tits, Raikkonen felt happy yesterday. Contentment oozed from every pore. Notwithstanding McLaren's inferior equipment and outrageously cock-eyed strategy, Raikkonen girded his loins and showed how to drive a race car. You want a pole position? Done. A win? Not possible with those scarlet monsters driving their own race but I will give you the next best thing: I will win race number two. You see, the Ferraris were in their own race, so Raikkonen's job was to win the other one. He did so famously. The Finn is going places. Look at his confident grin as he places his arms akimbo on the podium and you will see all you need. Observe his ability to understand that champagne is designed to be poured down one’s neck via the mouth, not for washing sweaty heads. This, remember, was a man who had literally driven the life out of his McLaren. When did you last see an engine blow up as the car entered parc ferme at the end of a Grand Prix. Raikkonen is on a mission. Ferrari will love him. Watch this space.
Another man with reason to be cheerful yesterday was English lad, Jenson Button. Had it not been for Kimi Raikkonen's daredevil overtaking ability, England would have been celebrating a good sporting weekend. Their man would have come third and earned a long awaited podium on the same weekend as England showed Pakistan a thing or two on the cricket pitch. But it was not to be. Still, Honda can take consolation from the fact that they look competitive again. Reliability issues still haunt them - witness the blow-up of Rubens Barrichello's engine - but they seem to be back where they ought to have been several months ago.
While Honda and Ferrari are moving onward and upward, Michelin have gone to sleep. Never have they needed to extract their digits more than they now need to. Fernando Alonso rescued fifth place by the skin of his teeth; such was the degradation in his tyres. His team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, could hardly keep his car on the tarmac - the tyres were that bad. Could it be perhaps Gallic fury at having lost out to the Japanese as sole tyre purveyors for next season that is causing this shocking incompetence? Is there some seething Frenchman throwing a spanner into the tyre manufacturing works? We shall soon find out…
It is becoming crucial. The omens are inauspicious. Let's hope Ferrari crash out of the Hungarian Grand Prix in a week's time. Things are not good…
Gitau
31 July 2006
posted by Gitau at 9:39 am
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