Vettel closes the curtains on 2009 in Abu Dhabi
The Japanese do things insidiously. While the big American car companies were swaggering about producing ludicrously large, thirsty lumps of metal in the 1960s, the Japanese quietly observed and learned how to do things differently. Before long, their largest market place was the United States of America itself. They did the same thing with cameras, televisions and even ships.
It should not, therefore, be surprising that Japanese lingerie model, Jessica Michibata, was never going to be contented by being a Formula One world champion’s bit of totty. That role had already been claimed and owned by a brash American called Nicole Scherzinger aka Pussycat Doll (during qualifying on Saturday there were some superb TV pictures of the Doll being photographed standing next to a lecherous, old sheikh who seemed as excited as a three year old with a new toy car!) of whom Jessica was not particularly fond. Mindful of Jenson Button’s early years in F1 – when he was determined to recreate the image of the young F1 driver as a serial-shagging rake – Jessica swore to herself that once her man had secured the world championship, she would rather be damned than be “just a girlfriend.”
Nicole was on hand to cheer Lewis Hamilton - and he looked pretty good during qualifying on Saturday – but in a rare mechanical failure for the McLaren, he had to retire with failed brakes before the halfway point of yesterday's inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Nicole did not look too pleased about this but I have little doubt that Jessica was sniggering behind her well manicured hand.
It is not difficult to see, then, that Mr Button has come under some heavy pressure in the past fortnight. So heavy, that in the drivers’ press conference after the race, the other chaps on the podium with him yesterday (after he managed to finish the race in third place), wanted to talk about little else than his impending nuptials . Button was repeatedly joshed by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber about when his wedding was going to be and all the clearly embarrassed English fellow could do was sheepishly declare that he wasn’t getting married this year. Well, there are only two months left until next year, so here is an idea for a wager. I will bet anyone £50 that Button will commence the 2010 season wearing a wedding ring. Any takers?
With everyone falling over themselves to say nice things about the Yas Marina circuit – after all, if a billionaire invites you to a sumptuous dinner cooked by a Michelin starred chef and accompanied by the most toothsome wines you have ever tasted, the last thing you want to be is rude! – it falls to me to state the bleeding obvious. The Yas Marina circuit, like the others designed by Bernie Ecclestone’s mate, Hermann Tilke, is in an incredible setting but is not one which I would describe as capable of producing superb racing action. It is a bland affair that produces processional Sunday afternoons where any overtaking is done in the pits and not on the circuit. The only real “action” we saw yesterday was Jenson Button hunting down and nearly catching Mark Webber in the final two laps of the race. There was also a comedy moment when Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari mistook the livery of the Red Bull for that of his own team and placed his car in the hands of the Red Bull mechanics who were waiting for the eventual winner, Sebastion Vettel, to come in for his own pit-stop seconds later. Unsurprisingly, Alguersuari was summarily redeployed on the circuit with a flea in his ear.
Ecclestone has repeatedly complained about people having to park their cars in muddy fields and suffer the indignity of less than luxurious track-side facilities at Silverstone. But given a choice between glitzy buildings – a hotel that changes colour through the evening, luxury yachts and floodlights etc – and a bland racing circuit; or having to shiver in the rain with mud up to my knees, wolfing down a hog roast and a pint of beer in a plastic mug while watching proper wheel-to-wheel action, I know what I would prefer. I have nothing in principle against new locations for Grands Prix (for instance, the new one in Korea for next season looks interesting) but the fundamentals should never be compromised. Yas Marina seemed to me to be every bit as unexciting as the new circuit in Valencia. How many times do we have to say this? Formula. One. Is. About. Motor. Racing.
Enough. The end of the 2009 season – the most exciting in recent memory – should not be about me venting my spleen about that worm, Ecclestone. It is easy to forget that for about a decade before this year, Formula One was dominated by two large and well resourced teams, Ferrari and McLaren. This year we have had four different teams win Grands Prix – Brawn, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari – and throughout, the uncertainty about the ultimate identity of the world champion (and the sheer mind-blowing nature of the possibility of it being a candidate from small teams like Brawn or Red Bull) has kept us thrilled and entertained. In addition we have had entertaining side shows like the defenestration of Flavio Briatore and the Nicole/Jessica wars.
I have enjoyed this year’s racing immensely. It seems like an eternity until engines are revved up six months hence…
Gitau
02 November 2009
It should not, therefore, be surprising that Japanese lingerie model, Jessica Michibata, was never going to be contented by being a Formula One world champion’s bit of totty. That role had already been claimed and owned by a brash American called Nicole Scherzinger aka Pussycat Doll (during qualifying on Saturday there were some superb TV pictures of the Doll being photographed standing next to a lecherous, old sheikh who seemed as excited as a three year old with a new toy car!) of whom Jessica was not particularly fond. Mindful of Jenson Button’s early years in F1 – when he was determined to recreate the image of the young F1 driver as a serial-shagging rake – Jessica swore to herself that once her man had secured the world championship, she would rather be damned than be “just a girlfriend.”
Nicole was on hand to cheer Lewis Hamilton - and he looked pretty good during qualifying on Saturday – but in a rare mechanical failure for the McLaren, he had to retire with failed brakes before the halfway point of yesterday's inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Nicole did not look too pleased about this but I have little doubt that Jessica was sniggering behind her well manicured hand.
It is not difficult to see, then, that Mr Button has come under some heavy pressure in the past fortnight. So heavy, that in the drivers’ press conference after the race, the other chaps on the podium with him yesterday (after he managed to finish the race in third place), wanted to talk about little else than his impending nuptials . Button was repeatedly joshed by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber about when his wedding was going to be and all the clearly embarrassed English fellow could do was sheepishly declare that he wasn’t getting married this year. Well, there are only two months left until next year, so here is an idea for a wager. I will bet anyone £50 that Button will commence the 2010 season wearing a wedding ring. Any takers?
With everyone falling over themselves to say nice things about the Yas Marina circuit – after all, if a billionaire invites you to a sumptuous dinner cooked by a Michelin starred chef and accompanied by the most toothsome wines you have ever tasted, the last thing you want to be is rude! – it falls to me to state the bleeding obvious. The Yas Marina circuit, like the others designed by Bernie Ecclestone’s mate, Hermann Tilke, is in an incredible setting but is not one which I would describe as capable of producing superb racing action. It is a bland affair that produces processional Sunday afternoons where any overtaking is done in the pits and not on the circuit. The only real “action” we saw yesterday was Jenson Button hunting down and nearly catching Mark Webber in the final two laps of the race. There was also a comedy moment when Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari mistook the livery of the Red Bull for that of his own team and placed his car in the hands of the Red Bull mechanics who were waiting for the eventual winner, Sebastion Vettel, to come in for his own pit-stop seconds later. Unsurprisingly, Alguersuari was summarily redeployed on the circuit with a flea in his ear.
Ecclestone has repeatedly complained about people having to park their cars in muddy fields and suffer the indignity of less than luxurious track-side facilities at Silverstone. But given a choice between glitzy buildings – a hotel that changes colour through the evening, luxury yachts and floodlights etc – and a bland racing circuit; or having to shiver in the rain with mud up to my knees, wolfing down a hog roast and a pint of beer in a plastic mug while watching proper wheel-to-wheel action, I know what I would prefer. I have nothing in principle against new locations for Grands Prix (for instance, the new one in Korea for next season looks interesting) but the fundamentals should never be compromised. Yas Marina seemed to me to be every bit as unexciting as the new circuit in Valencia. How many times do we have to say this? Formula. One. Is. About. Motor. Racing.
Enough. The end of the 2009 season – the most exciting in recent memory – should not be about me venting my spleen about that worm, Ecclestone. It is easy to forget that for about a decade before this year, Formula One was dominated by two large and well resourced teams, Ferrari and McLaren. This year we have had four different teams win Grands Prix – Brawn, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari – and throughout, the uncertainty about the ultimate identity of the world champion (and the sheer mind-blowing nature of the possibility of it being a candidate from small teams like Brawn or Red Bull) has kept us thrilled and entertained. In addition we have had entertaining side shows like the defenestration of Flavio Briatore and the Nicole/Jessica wars.
I have enjoyed this year’s racing immensely. It seems like an eternity until engines are revved up six months hence…
Gitau
02 November 2009
posted by Gitau at 4:55 pm
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