Les Français sont insultés (The French are insulted)
The French do hauteur exceedingly well. The world is ordered as follows: 1. The French; 2. Everybody else. The hauteur is present in everything: the dress sense, the manner, the food and France itself. Paris is a city that redefines grandeur and the French lose no opportunity in rubbing the noses of the non-French in it. Order a meal in a Parisian restaurant in Anglais and you will get it with both barrels. A shrug which you think is indicative of lack of comprehension is loaded with innuendo. You think that the waiter is saying "I'm sorry I don't understand you" when he really means "you look and smell as though you just emerged from the depths of a putrid sewer!". A comely waitress offers you a pout which makes you think "I'm in there - a few more careful words and tonight will be a shagfest!" when she is really saying "I would rather be seasoning a plate of my own excrement and looking forward to wolfing it down than spend two seconds in your company, you worm!".
Imagine then the insult felt across France - home of the world's oldest Grand Prix and the land that gave us the very name "Grand Prix" - by the decision to erase the French Grand Prix from the Formula One calendar with effect from 2008. The French Grand Prix was the first ever Grand Prix and has been held every year since 1906 - save for the years when the Europeans were too busy shooting each other and the rest of the world to bother about racing motor cars. The magnitude of the decision, therefore, has me rocking every time I think about it. Is nothing sacred any more? Well, clearly not to Mr Bernie Ecclestone and his bank manager. That the French have been buggered by an Englishman of all people is deeply resented across France. The cry goes out across the land as I write this: "who will save us from les Anglais? Napoleon, rise up and come to our rescue, for we need you now!"
To my mind it is inconceivable that the French Grand Prix can be erased from the calendar all together. It is one of a quartet of races that are part of the very fabric of Formula One: the Monaco Grand Prix, the British Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix and, of course, the French Grand Prix. Without these races Formula One ceases to be what we know and love. The reasons the French Grand Prix wont be held next year are all about its current home. Magny Cours, let's face it, is just not good enough for a race as important as the French Grand Prix. It is located in a remote part of France which is difficult to get to and is an uninspiring circuit. Other than the British Grand Prix which is on my door step, the French Grand Prix is the one race closest to where I live and yet I have never been to it. That speaks volumes. Other circuits in France - like Paul Ricard in Provence, or the Autodrome de Montlhéry just outside Paris - are far better and in vastly superior locations. It will be back, mark my words, but not next year and not at Magny Cours.
Nevertheless, we must say goodbye to Magny Cours this weekend and what better way to do so than have our boy hero Lewis Hamilton win in France. If he does so it will be the end of Fernando Alonso. Hamilton has put the wind up the world champion in a manner nobody could possibly have imagined. It is now abundantly clear that Hamilton and Alonso cannot continue in the same team. This was not in the firmament four months ago but by ill luck or inspired design it would appear that the best two drivers in F1 drive for the same team. Alonso did not ever imagine he would be shown up to such an extent by a British rookie and is bitterly frustrated by it. As if this is not enough, Hamilton has been part of McLaren for so long that it is more of a natural fit for him than it is for Alonso. Given Hamilton's evidently superior driving and mental skills, Ron Dennis would be insane to let him go. The smart money, therefore, must be on Alonso looking for a new drive next year. Two choices stand out: Ferrari and Renault.
Renault's Flavio Briatore would, I am sure, be only too glad to welcome back his Spanish wonder-boy but I am more greatly persuaded by the arguments one can employ about a Ferrari drive for Alonso. Ironically - with hindsight - Ferrari would have been the ideal team for Alonso this season. What he has complained about bitterly (without using the words themselves) is his lack of number one status at McLaren. He wanted to be respected at McLaren because he is a double world champion. To his mind this means that if he finds himself behind Hamilton the team should use clever pit strategy to get him ahead and not allow him to get beaten (as repeatedly happened to Barrichello whenever he found himself in the unhappy position of being ahead of Ferrari number one, Michael Schumacher). I am sure Ferrari would have been more prepared to consider giving the world champion number one status within the team than McLaren have been.
The other reason for suggesting Ferrari is Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn is for the chop at the end of this season whether he likes it or not. Alonso and Hamilton have demonstrated their prowess at developing a race car. They took an uncompetitive car, and made it a race winner - something that Kimi cannot do or, worse, will not do. After winning the first race comfortably in Australia, Ferrari have dropped in performance like a falling rock. The car that begins a season is vastly different from that driven a fortnight later, let alone three months later. It is instructive to consider where Renault is this season without Alonso - in the doldrums. Raikkonen is simply not pulling his weight at Ferrari.
Ferrari with Schumacher very much on the scene as an "adviser" are not best pleased about a chap who won't give his heart and soul to the team. During his time as a Ferrari driver, the German maestro ate, slept and dreamt Ferrari. A Ferrari drive is meant to mean more than a good job that pays well - it means every last drop of your blood! Raikkonen could have made it really big if he had been more committed. The "give me a decent car and I'll drive it but if it's no good that's your problem" stuff simply does not wash in Maranello and does him no favours at all. Michael Schumacher is now worth an estimated £1 billion because of his amazing years at Ferrari. But this does not seem to move Raikkonen. The exit door is a virtual certainty. For the Italians the end will not have happened soon enough. If the Italian press is anything to go by, Raikkonen is universally loathed in the land of the prancing horse.
It will come as no surprise to regular readers to learn that I have long had a love affair with France. My instructions to Guiseppe, my Italian delicatessen owner and purveyor of excellent food and wines, is under clear instructions to steer clear of the Italian stuff this weekend and ensure that my larder is sufficiently stocked with the finest French provisions obtainable north of Normandy. It is with these pleasant thoughts in mind that I anticipate an excellent French Grand Prix 2007. I do hope that you too will,
Enjoy Magny Cours!
28 June 2007
Imagine then the insult felt across France - home of the world's oldest Grand Prix and the land that gave us the very name "Grand Prix" - by the decision to erase the French Grand Prix from the Formula One calendar with effect from 2008. The French Grand Prix was the first ever Grand Prix and has been held every year since 1906 - save for the years when the Europeans were too busy shooting each other and the rest of the world to bother about racing motor cars. The magnitude of the decision, therefore, has me rocking every time I think about it. Is nothing sacred any more? Well, clearly not to Mr Bernie Ecclestone and his bank manager. That the French have been buggered by an Englishman of all people is deeply resented across France. The cry goes out across the land as I write this: "who will save us from les Anglais? Napoleon, rise up and come to our rescue, for we need you now!"
To my mind it is inconceivable that the French Grand Prix can be erased from the calendar all together. It is one of a quartet of races that are part of the very fabric of Formula One: the Monaco Grand Prix, the British Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix and, of course, the French Grand Prix. Without these races Formula One ceases to be what we know and love. The reasons the French Grand Prix wont be held next year are all about its current home. Magny Cours, let's face it, is just not good enough for a race as important as the French Grand Prix. It is located in a remote part of France which is difficult to get to and is an uninspiring circuit. Other than the British Grand Prix which is on my door step, the French Grand Prix is the one race closest to where I live and yet I have never been to it. That speaks volumes. Other circuits in France - like Paul Ricard in Provence, or the Autodrome de Montlhéry just outside Paris - are far better and in vastly superior locations. It will be back, mark my words, but not next year and not at Magny Cours.
Nevertheless, we must say goodbye to Magny Cours this weekend and what better way to do so than have our boy hero Lewis Hamilton win in France. If he does so it will be the end of Fernando Alonso. Hamilton has put the wind up the world champion in a manner nobody could possibly have imagined. It is now abundantly clear that Hamilton and Alonso cannot continue in the same team. This was not in the firmament four months ago but by ill luck or inspired design it would appear that the best two drivers in F1 drive for the same team. Alonso did not ever imagine he would be shown up to such an extent by a British rookie and is bitterly frustrated by it. As if this is not enough, Hamilton has been part of McLaren for so long that it is more of a natural fit for him than it is for Alonso. Given Hamilton's evidently superior driving and mental skills, Ron Dennis would be insane to let him go. The smart money, therefore, must be on Alonso looking for a new drive next year. Two choices stand out: Ferrari and Renault.
Renault's Flavio Briatore would, I am sure, be only too glad to welcome back his Spanish wonder-boy but I am more greatly persuaded by the arguments one can employ about a Ferrari drive for Alonso. Ironically - with hindsight - Ferrari would have been the ideal team for Alonso this season. What he has complained about bitterly (without using the words themselves) is his lack of number one status at McLaren. He wanted to be respected at McLaren because he is a double world champion. To his mind this means that if he finds himself behind Hamilton the team should use clever pit strategy to get him ahead and not allow him to get beaten (as repeatedly happened to Barrichello whenever he found himself in the unhappy position of being ahead of Ferrari number one, Michael Schumacher). I am sure Ferrari would have been more prepared to consider giving the world champion number one status within the team than McLaren have been.
The other reason for suggesting Ferrari is Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn is for the chop at the end of this season whether he likes it or not. Alonso and Hamilton have demonstrated their prowess at developing a race car. They took an uncompetitive car, and made it a race winner - something that Kimi cannot do or, worse, will not do. After winning the first race comfortably in Australia, Ferrari have dropped in performance like a falling rock. The car that begins a season is vastly different from that driven a fortnight later, let alone three months later. It is instructive to consider where Renault is this season without Alonso - in the doldrums. Raikkonen is simply not pulling his weight at Ferrari.
Ferrari with Schumacher very much on the scene as an "adviser" are not best pleased about a chap who won't give his heart and soul to the team. During his time as a Ferrari driver, the German maestro ate, slept and dreamt Ferrari. A Ferrari drive is meant to mean more than a good job that pays well - it means every last drop of your blood! Raikkonen could have made it really big if he had been more committed. The "give me a decent car and I'll drive it but if it's no good that's your problem" stuff simply does not wash in Maranello and does him no favours at all. Michael Schumacher is now worth an estimated £1 billion because of his amazing years at Ferrari. But this does not seem to move Raikkonen. The exit door is a virtual certainty. For the Italians the end will not have happened soon enough. If the Italian press is anything to go by, Raikkonen is universally loathed in the land of the prancing horse.
It will come as no surprise to regular readers to learn that I have long had a love affair with France. My instructions to Guiseppe, my Italian delicatessen owner and purveyor of excellent food and wines, is under clear instructions to steer clear of the Italian stuff this weekend and ensure that my larder is sufficiently stocked with the finest French provisions obtainable north of Normandy. It is with these pleasant thoughts in mind that I anticipate an excellent French Grand Prix 2007. I do hope that you too will,
Enjoy Magny Cours!
28 June 2007
posted by Gitau at 4:40 pm
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