Black studs, a doll and the Devil's own luck
Before yesterday's eventful race, the BBC chose to offer us a little taste of what it is like to be a Formula One superstar. We saw a camera shot from behind Lewis Hamilton while he was surrounded by adoring fans presenting him with copies of photographs of himself to sign. As he took a photograph from one fan, she was overcome with extreme emotion. Her mouth drooled, her nostrils flared, her eyes gushed with tears and it was all she could do to mouth the words "Lewis, I love you soooo much!" Meanwhile, above him equally overwrought females were standing on the shoulders of men who themselves were standing on the shoulders of other men. The women were crying and screaming "Lewis, Lewis, Lewis!" Sadly for them, Hamilton couldn't linger and had to go. When he turned his head to move along, we were treated to part of the reason for the fever-pitch adulation. Hamilton was sporting a brand new look: a pair of black studs in his ears and a very cheeky grin.
The camera then panned across to the radiant features of yet another reverent fan and the reason for a rejuvenated Mr Hamilton became clear: his Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger, was back; the first time we have seen her at a Formula One circuit since last year. I felt certain that Hamilton had struck a bargain with Mephistopheles. One side of it was that the devil was to deliver a race win; the other side is yet to become apparent.
Mephistopheles did not disappoint. With more than a third of the race run and the Red Bull cars cruising towards an easy one-two wipe-out of their opposition, the forces of hell were unleashed on the brain of Sebastian Vettel (and, depending on your point view, that of Mark Webber). Seeing an opportunity to usurp race-leader and team-mate, Mark Webber, Vettel dived in on the inside of Webber's car. We were then accorded the rare privilege of seeing top-end drivers breaching the most unbreakable rule there is. Crash your car, if you must, incur penalties if you're having a bad day, but whatever you do, what you must never even dream about is causing a collision with your team-mate. Superstar, hungry to be world champion, impatient, adrenaline-filled you may be, that is understood. But you must - on pain of death - always remember who pays your salary. Red Bull would like to have their first Formula One Driver's Championship trophy more than they care about the face of the man who wins it for them. Worse, if either or both of their drivers put in jeopardy their chance to win that title or, more importantly, the Constructors' World Championship, either or both of those drivers are a liability.
Conveniently, then, third and fourth placed drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button found themselves promoted to first and second. Button came close to reversing the order of proceedings ten laps from the end by sneakily getting past Hamilton, but the Mephistophelean bargain proved itself reliable a lap later as Hamilton effortlessly took the place back and steered himself to his first ever Turkish Grand Prix victory.
When asked if, given the extraordinary circumstances of his win, Nicole had brought him a little luck, Hamilton was magnanimous. "Every time she [Nicole] comes, I seem to win," he said. "I think it was Monaco 2008 she came, then Hungary last year which I won and Singapore, so she is definitely a bit lucky for me." Nicole has been present at many more of his wins than he was relating, so I think it must be safe to surmise that Hamilton was talking about races which he won where he stood the least chance of success. He could have gone further and added that her lucky presence secured him the world championship in the least likely of circumstances at Interlagos at the end of the 2008 season.
If Hades was smiling upon Hamilton, all the prayers in Italy, Spain and Brazil could do nothing for the scarlet cars in Ferrari's 800th Grand Prix. Both cars - worst of all the one driven by double world champion, Fernando Alonso - performed way below the standards expected of as illustrious a marque as the Prancing Horse. Frustration cannot be very far away from the surface for Ferrari, for the evidence of Turkey is that McLaren are currently the only team with a fighting chance of taking on the Red Bulls.
It would be naive to expect this situation to last for very long. But in a few races time the maths will suggest to struggling team owners that 2010 is a write-off. I have a strong feeling that Ross Brawn of Mercedes is only three or four races away from making that calculation and turning his attention instead to 2011. Watch this space.
The top ten drivers in the championship after Turkey look like this:
1 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 93
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 88
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 84
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 79
5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 78
6 Robert Kubica Renault 67
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 67
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 66
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 34
10 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 22
What we are left with now is a wide open world championship. Any one of at least four drivers could concievably be world champion. Take courage and go down to the bookies now - it's your best possible chance of making a few pennies out of this stew.
Gitau
31 May 2010
The camera then panned across to the radiant features of yet another reverent fan and the reason for a rejuvenated Mr Hamilton became clear: his Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger, was back; the first time we have seen her at a Formula One circuit since last year. I felt certain that Hamilton had struck a bargain with Mephistopheles. One side of it was that the devil was to deliver a race win; the other side is yet to become apparent.
Mephistopheles did not disappoint. With more than a third of the race run and the Red Bull cars cruising towards an easy one-two wipe-out of their opposition, the forces of hell were unleashed on the brain of Sebastian Vettel (and, depending on your point view, that of Mark Webber). Seeing an opportunity to usurp race-leader and team-mate, Mark Webber, Vettel dived in on the inside of Webber's car. We were then accorded the rare privilege of seeing top-end drivers breaching the most unbreakable rule there is. Crash your car, if you must, incur penalties if you're having a bad day, but whatever you do, what you must never even dream about is causing a collision with your team-mate. Superstar, hungry to be world champion, impatient, adrenaline-filled you may be, that is understood. But you must - on pain of death - always remember who pays your salary. Red Bull would like to have their first Formula One Driver's Championship trophy more than they care about the face of the man who wins it for them. Worse, if either or both of their drivers put in jeopardy their chance to win that title or, more importantly, the Constructors' World Championship, either or both of those drivers are a liability.
Conveniently, then, third and fourth placed drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button found themselves promoted to first and second. Button came close to reversing the order of proceedings ten laps from the end by sneakily getting past Hamilton, but the Mephistophelean bargain proved itself reliable a lap later as Hamilton effortlessly took the place back and steered himself to his first ever Turkish Grand Prix victory.
When asked if, given the extraordinary circumstances of his win, Nicole had brought him a little luck, Hamilton was magnanimous. "Every time she [Nicole] comes, I seem to win," he said. "I think it was Monaco 2008 she came, then Hungary last year which I won and Singapore, so she is definitely a bit lucky for me." Nicole has been present at many more of his wins than he was relating, so I think it must be safe to surmise that Hamilton was talking about races which he won where he stood the least chance of success. He could have gone further and added that her lucky presence secured him the world championship in the least likely of circumstances at Interlagos at the end of the 2008 season.
If Hades was smiling upon Hamilton, all the prayers in Italy, Spain and Brazil could do nothing for the scarlet cars in Ferrari's 800th Grand Prix. Both cars - worst of all the one driven by double world champion, Fernando Alonso - performed way below the standards expected of as illustrious a marque as the Prancing Horse. Frustration cannot be very far away from the surface for Ferrari, for the evidence of Turkey is that McLaren are currently the only team with a fighting chance of taking on the Red Bulls.
It would be naive to expect this situation to last for very long. But in a few races time the maths will suggest to struggling team owners that 2010 is a write-off. I have a strong feeling that Ross Brawn of Mercedes is only three or four races away from making that calculation and turning his attention instead to 2011. Watch this space.
The top ten drivers in the championship after Turkey look like this:
1 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 93
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 88
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 84
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 79
5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 78
6 Robert Kubica Renault 67
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 67
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 66
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 34
10 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 22
What we are left with now is a wide open world championship. Any one of at least four drivers could concievably be world champion. Take courage and go down to the bookies now - it's your best possible chance of making a few pennies out of this stew.
Gitau
31 May 2010
posted by Gitau at 6:42 pm
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