Sorcery at Silverstone by the new rain master
If I am away from my trusty old television set during a Formula One weekend, I usually ensure that I am either within easy access of one or physically present at the location of the racing action. It usually works. I found myself in Vienna this past weekend and, as ever, ensured that I was able to carve a couple of hours out of my schedule on Saturday and Sunday for the British Grand Prix’s qualifying and race sessions. This time my tactic only worked to a limited extent. During the most exciting British Grand Prix in living memory, I had to make do with live commentary in German - a language which I have only very rudimentary understanding of - delivered in dull monotones by an elderly Austrian gentleman. It was a bit like undressing Miss Venezuela, gawping at her sublime beauty and then having to listen to her sing a nursery rhyme about potty training.
If Lewis Hamilton’s peerless performance during a downpour at Fuji last year was impressive and his mastery of a rainy Monaco this year was brilliant, his command of Silverstone was the stuff of legend. If anyone ever writes again about great rain conquerors of the past, they will have to include Lewis Hamilton among their number. Hamilton now belongs up there with Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. His drive on Sunday was magical. The closest I could get to reading anything derogatory about Hamilton after Sunday was that he was a “madman”; that desperation had got the better of him after the world had written him off as no more than a clothes horse or a cheap babe magnet. I disagree. You do not drive like that if you are feeling pressured.
After qualifying in fourth place on Saturday, Hamilton knew he had to produce an electrifying start to be in with a chance of a good result. He did so with aplomb and was breathing down the neck of team-mate and first placed man, Heikki Kovalainen, within seconds. There was a heart-stopping moment when it looked as though both McLarens would end up wrecked aboard a lorry but Hamilton kept it together. It was not long before he had dispatched the young Finn and taken complete command of Silverstone. Lap after lap, he drove like a man with his eyes glued wide open, not like one who could not even see his hand in front of his face. While driver after driver spun off and got beached in the gravel trap, Hamilton hardly ever put a wheel wrong.
The contrast between Hamilton and the well greased McLaren machine and their principal competitors could hardly have been more stark. Ferrari – and well nigh everyone else - was at sixes and sevens all afternoon. Kimi Raikkonen began the afternoon’s racing by angrily knocking down a photographer whom he believed to be invading his personal space as he approached the Silverstone grid. Being in permanent bar-brawl mood may be useful if one wants to deal effectively with bouncers at exclusive lap dancing clubs in Helsinki but it is not the best preparation for a difficult race at Silverstone in treacherous weather conditions.
After the initial heavy rain had subsided, Ferrari gambled during the following round of pit stops and chose to leave the slightly worn intermediate tyres on their cars. The thinking was that the tyres would improve in grip as the circuit dried up and the scarlet monsters would then be able to sweep the opposition away. But the weather Gods were not with the men from Maranello. It began to rain again. Raikkonen did his darndest but even he could not prevent himself from being lapped by an Englishman on the march.
Raikkonen’s team-mate, Felipe Massa, must be struggling to get out of bed these days. After Sunday’s performance he would be lucky to land a job in an amateur schoolboy go-karting team. Rarely, if ever, have I seen a driver in a top team look so out of his depth. He spun off so many times (were they five, six or perhaps seven?) that one wished he would beach the car in the gravel-trap or crash it into the barriers, anything except carry on driving! I’m taking Massa off my list of championship contenders. He has sparks of brilliance – the points he has earned thus far prove this – but no staying power, no fire in his belly; nothing much more than a cheeky, boyish grin. Teach the boys roller skating in Sao Paulo, Felipe, but please leave the driving to the real men.
As if by contrast, the other Brazilian, Rubens Barrichello, was a welcome source of delight. He is popular for all the right reasons and it was good to see him back on the podium after so many moons. He has never been a slouch in the rain and Honda took full advantage of the Brawn brain (just in case you forgot, Michael Schumacher’s master strategist, Ross Brawn, now works for Honda). Where Ferrari made outrageous strategic blunders, Honda got the balance exactly right. Splendid.
We are now exactly halfway through the season. Three drivers are equally placed at the top of the drivers’ championship. It is almost as though the slate has been wiped clean and we are starting again. Excellent. A friend who has some idea about these things thinks it is advantage Raikkonen from here on. His reasoning is that this time last year Raikkonen was eighteen points behind Hamilton but he then went on to take seven straight podiums and ended up world champion. Formula One being what it is, I hesitate before making such predictions. The next races may suit Raikkonen’s style and temperament but Hamilton’s performance on Sunday in the wet makes me think that we ought to sit back and wait. If Sunday’s performance was madness from the English lad, perhaps there is more of it lurking in that yellow helmet. I just don’t know. I am praying for foul weather for the remainder of the summer, though.
Sunday produced a new problem for the pundits and my London cabbie mates. What are they going to say about young Lewis Hamilton now?
Gitau
9 July 2008
If Lewis Hamilton’s peerless performance during a downpour at Fuji last year was impressive and his mastery of a rainy Monaco this year was brilliant, his command of Silverstone was the stuff of legend. If anyone ever writes again about great rain conquerors of the past, they will have to include Lewis Hamilton among their number. Hamilton now belongs up there with Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. His drive on Sunday was magical. The closest I could get to reading anything derogatory about Hamilton after Sunday was that he was a “madman”; that desperation had got the better of him after the world had written him off as no more than a clothes horse or a cheap babe magnet. I disagree. You do not drive like that if you are feeling pressured.
After qualifying in fourth place on Saturday, Hamilton knew he had to produce an electrifying start to be in with a chance of a good result. He did so with aplomb and was breathing down the neck of team-mate and first placed man, Heikki Kovalainen, within seconds. There was a heart-stopping moment when it looked as though both McLarens would end up wrecked aboard a lorry but Hamilton kept it together. It was not long before he had dispatched the young Finn and taken complete command of Silverstone. Lap after lap, he drove like a man with his eyes glued wide open, not like one who could not even see his hand in front of his face. While driver after driver spun off and got beached in the gravel trap, Hamilton hardly ever put a wheel wrong.
The contrast between Hamilton and the well greased McLaren machine and their principal competitors could hardly have been more stark. Ferrari – and well nigh everyone else - was at sixes and sevens all afternoon. Kimi Raikkonen began the afternoon’s racing by angrily knocking down a photographer whom he believed to be invading his personal space as he approached the Silverstone grid. Being in permanent bar-brawl mood may be useful if one wants to deal effectively with bouncers at exclusive lap dancing clubs in Helsinki but it is not the best preparation for a difficult race at Silverstone in treacherous weather conditions.
After the initial heavy rain had subsided, Ferrari gambled during the following round of pit stops and chose to leave the slightly worn intermediate tyres on their cars. The thinking was that the tyres would improve in grip as the circuit dried up and the scarlet monsters would then be able to sweep the opposition away. But the weather Gods were not with the men from Maranello. It began to rain again. Raikkonen did his darndest but even he could not prevent himself from being lapped by an Englishman on the march.
Raikkonen’s team-mate, Felipe Massa, must be struggling to get out of bed these days. After Sunday’s performance he would be lucky to land a job in an amateur schoolboy go-karting team. Rarely, if ever, have I seen a driver in a top team look so out of his depth. He spun off so many times (were they five, six or perhaps seven?) that one wished he would beach the car in the gravel-trap or crash it into the barriers, anything except carry on driving! I’m taking Massa off my list of championship contenders. He has sparks of brilliance – the points he has earned thus far prove this – but no staying power, no fire in his belly; nothing much more than a cheeky, boyish grin. Teach the boys roller skating in Sao Paulo, Felipe, but please leave the driving to the real men.
As if by contrast, the other Brazilian, Rubens Barrichello, was a welcome source of delight. He is popular for all the right reasons and it was good to see him back on the podium after so many moons. He has never been a slouch in the rain and Honda took full advantage of the Brawn brain (just in case you forgot, Michael Schumacher’s master strategist, Ross Brawn, now works for Honda). Where Ferrari made outrageous strategic blunders, Honda got the balance exactly right. Splendid.
We are now exactly halfway through the season. Three drivers are equally placed at the top of the drivers’ championship. It is almost as though the slate has been wiped clean and we are starting again. Excellent. A friend who has some idea about these things thinks it is advantage Raikkonen from here on. His reasoning is that this time last year Raikkonen was eighteen points behind Hamilton but he then went on to take seven straight podiums and ended up world champion. Formula One being what it is, I hesitate before making such predictions. The next races may suit Raikkonen’s style and temperament but Hamilton’s performance on Sunday in the wet makes me think that we ought to sit back and wait. If Sunday’s performance was madness from the English lad, perhaps there is more of it lurking in that yellow helmet. I just don’t know. I am praying for foul weather for the remainder of the summer, though.
Sunday produced a new problem for the pundits and my London cabbie mates. What are they going to say about young Lewis Hamilton now?
Gitau
9 July 2008
posted by Gitau at 5:14 pm
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