Brazil beckons the black man
Inequality and race are curious bedfellows. If you look across the world at countries where large numbers of black people (un)happily co-exist with their white countrymen, you will observe a consistent pattern. The black man is usually the chap cleaning the toilet while the white man is the fellow shitting in it. The geographical spread of it is remarkable: the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Mauritius, South Africa and Brazil are just the examples which leap to the mind as I contemplate this. Nowhere are the inequalities more stark than in South Africa and Brazil. In the former case, a black government has enacted policies which have resulted in a black, wealthy middle class with a pronounced penchant for conspicuous consumption. I haven’t been there but I am told that in Brazil, if you’re not a footballer and happen to be black, the odds are heavily against you being the guy doing the shitting.
As the month of November begins the end to the most remarkable year in recent human history, it is to the United States and Brazil that we must turn our eyes. In both countries we are on the brink of witnessing the impossible: a black man on the top step who hasn’t run a marathon or punched someone’s lights out. This time next week the world may have a black Formula One world champion and a black leader of the free world. If Lewis Hamilton and Barack Obama close 2008 at the top I will know that the worm has begun to turn.
The action begins in Sao Paulo at the Interlagos circuit which is situated next door to an almighty slum. Being no stranger to living grandly albeit cheek by jowl with slum dwellers, I understand all too profoundly what it must feel like for Felipe Massa to drive past the slum in his hometown on his way to attempting to stop the clock of history. The black chaps in the slums won’t be yelling in appreciation of a new Brazilian hero. Never. That accolade belongs to the likes of Ronaldo. Once he gets past the snarling black faces and ghastly housing, he will be staring at a sea of white Brazilian faces imploring him to bring the championship home for the first time since Ayrton Senna da Silva did it back in 1991. When this last happened I was a skirt-chasing student, more interested in thighs than tyres.
Things are different now. Just as my daughter, Arabella, has transformed my existence, Lewis Hamilton will walk away from Brazil with the world championship safely in his back pocket and shake up the motor racing world for ever and a day. He does not need to do very much. All he has to do to secure the title is finish the race in fifth place. In the absence of sabotage, mechanical failure or events, the title will belong to the English lad with a father from Grenada. Let us take each in turn.
Sabotage
The last two sabotage attempts I can remember cost the saboteur dearly. In 1997, in a championship deciding final race at Jerez, Michael Schumacher attempted to take Jacques Villeneuve off the track by deliberately running his car into Villeneuve’s. Schumacher ended up losing the championship to Villeneuve and, worse, all his points for the season. Having failed to learn the error of his ways, Schumacher attempted an even more stupid manoeuvre at Monaco in 2006. During qualifying, he ostentatiously parked his car at an obviously dangerous corner claiming engine failure. The incident (as planned) ruined Fernando Alonso’s qualifying lap. Schumacher paid for it ultimately with the 2006 driver’s championship. Alonso has been grinning ever since.
The lesson is clear: don’t mess about; it just isn’t worth it. Methinks the entire paddock have received this message perfectly clearly. If the penalty for messing about involves a penalty to be imposed next year, no driver will want to contemplate it. In a year when everything has been as tight as it has, nobody wants to risk hobbling himself at the start of a new season.
Mechanical failure
All the cars are bullet-proof these days, aren’t they? Are they really? Well, Felipe Massa would probably have something to say about that. Having commanded the Hungarian Grand Prix this year, his engine exploded in a cloud of smoke three laps from the chequered flag and he was forced to retire. That victory, had he achieved it, would have made a significant difference to the championship tables today. He didn’t and it doesn’t.
McLaren-Mercedes in the hands of Hamilton have enjoyed a near perfect year so far. He does tend to drive his car quite hard – and wear his tyres thinner than most – but I think we can almost rule this out as a problem this weekend.
Events
When asked what was likely to blow the mighty British government off course, 50s Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan famously replied “events, dear boy, events”. There is no telling what may happen in a race. If there was there would be no point in racing in the first place! Fernando Alonso (no friend of Hamilton’s) could stall his car on the grid and cause a series of collisions. A Sao Paulo dog could invade the track and require a safety car to assist in getting the animal off. There could be an earthquake. Anything!
The point is we are at the mercy of events, I am afraid. Any damned thing can happen.
Still, mustn’t be apprehensive. After all it is a race and it is held for nothing more than our amusement, so
Enjoy Brazil!
Gitau
31 October 2008
As the month of November begins the end to the most remarkable year in recent human history, it is to the United States and Brazil that we must turn our eyes. In both countries we are on the brink of witnessing the impossible: a black man on the top step who hasn’t run a marathon or punched someone’s lights out. This time next week the world may have a black Formula One world champion and a black leader of the free world. If Lewis Hamilton and Barack Obama close 2008 at the top I will know that the worm has begun to turn.
The action begins in Sao Paulo at the Interlagos circuit which is situated next door to an almighty slum. Being no stranger to living grandly albeit cheek by jowl with slum dwellers, I understand all too profoundly what it must feel like for Felipe Massa to drive past the slum in his hometown on his way to attempting to stop the clock of history. The black chaps in the slums won’t be yelling in appreciation of a new Brazilian hero. Never. That accolade belongs to the likes of Ronaldo. Once he gets past the snarling black faces and ghastly housing, he will be staring at a sea of white Brazilian faces imploring him to bring the championship home for the first time since Ayrton Senna da Silva did it back in 1991. When this last happened I was a skirt-chasing student, more interested in thighs than tyres.
Things are different now. Just as my daughter, Arabella, has transformed my existence, Lewis Hamilton will walk away from Brazil with the world championship safely in his back pocket and shake up the motor racing world for ever and a day. He does not need to do very much. All he has to do to secure the title is finish the race in fifth place. In the absence of sabotage, mechanical failure or events, the title will belong to the English lad with a father from Grenada. Let us take each in turn.
Sabotage
The last two sabotage attempts I can remember cost the saboteur dearly. In 1997, in a championship deciding final race at Jerez, Michael Schumacher attempted to take Jacques Villeneuve off the track by deliberately running his car into Villeneuve’s. Schumacher ended up losing the championship to Villeneuve and, worse, all his points for the season. Having failed to learn the error of his ways, Schumacher attempted an even more stupid manoeuvre at Monaco in 2006. During qualifying, he ostentatiously parked his car at an obviously dangerous corner claiming engine failure. The incident (as planned) ruined Fernando Alonso’s qualifying lap. Schumacher paid for it ultimately with the 2006 driver’s championship. Alonso has been grinning ever since.
The lesson is clear: don’t mess about; it just isn’t worth it. Methinks the entire paddock have received this message perfectly clearly. If the penalty for messing about involves a penalty to be imposed next year, no driver will want to contemplate it. In a year when everything has been as tight as it has, nobody wants to risk hobbling himself at the start of a new season.
Mechanical failure
All the cars are bullet-proof these days, aren’t they? Are they really? Well, Felipe Massa would probably have something to say about that. Having commanded the Hungarian Grand Prix this year, his engine exploded in a cloud of smoke three laps from the chequered flag and he was forced to retire. That victory, had he achieved it, would have made a significant difference to the championship tables today. He didn’t and it doesn’t.
McLaren-Mercedes in the hands of Hamilton have enjoyed a near perfect year so far. He does tend to drive his car quite hard – and wear his tyres thinner than most – but I think we can almost rule this out as a problem this weekend.
Events
When asked what was likely to blow the mighty British government off course, 50s Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan famously replied “events, dear boy, events”. There is no telling what may happen in a race. If there was there would be no point in racing in the first place! Fernando Alonso (no friend of Hamilton’s) could stall his car on the grid and cause a series of collisions. A Sao Paulo dog could invade the track and require a safety car to assist in getting the animal off. There could be an earthquake. Anything!
The point is we are at the mercy of events, I am afraid. Any damned thing can happen.
Still, mustn’t be apprehensive. After all it is a race and it is held for nothing more than our amusement, so
Enjoy Brazil!
Gitau
31 October 2008
posted by Gitau at 3:52 pm
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