May 2012
4 posts
2 tags
Formula Fun or Formula Farce?
This season looks set to go down as one of the most, if not the most unpredictable in Formula One history. Five different winners in the first five races and four different pole sitters (albeit aided by a Hamilton penalty) paints an intriguing picture of the 2012 season so far. The races are certainly entertaining to watch, but is it still F1?
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There are grumblings coming from within the...
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Beware The Ides Of May
Forget the Ides of March, if you’re an F1 driver then May is the month you need to beware. Having looked through various motorsport publications over the course of the last fortnight, I’ve been struck by the number of greats who have met their maker in the month of May. I decided to investigate a little further and pick out several of note.
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There have been around 45 drivers...
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The Spanish F1GP - Where will the Balance of Power...
The Spanish Grand Prix marks the start of European leg of the 2012 F1 season. After four long haul races, teams come to Spain relatively clueless as to the pecking order as the first four races has seen four different winners. The important point to note from the first four races is that no team has been able to dominate.
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McLaren has looked the most consistent of the top four teams while...
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There Should Be More Female Drivers in F1
With Sauber announcing the forthcoming promotion of Monisha Kaltenborn to the role of team principal, Claire Williams taking the post of marketing and communication director at Williams and Maria de Villota and Susie Wolff currently fulfilling test driving roles for Marussia and Williams respectively, it finally seems as though the fairer sex are getting a fairer shot in the world of F1. So where...
April 2012
4 posts
2 tags
Can Kimi Go All The Way?
Kimi Raikkonen - 2012 Formula One World Drivers’ Champion. That sentence would have raised more than a few eyebrows before the start of the season and probably even more after qualifying in Australia. All of a sudden though, it doesn’t seem quite such a far fetched statement.
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The first point I need to make in writing this is that I’m not basing it purely on the strong...
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Is The SuperSeb Era Over?
Sebastian Vettel has been F1’s fastest qualifier and racer consistently over the last two seasons. Two world championships, sixteen wins and twenty-two pole positions from thirty-eight races is how his 2010 and 2011 stacked up. Three races into 2012 and there is a rather different picture being painted.
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In those three races he’s been out-qualified three times by his team mate...
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Bahrain on Ecclestone's Parade?
The race in Bahrain scheduled for 22nd April is once again in doubt. Protests and violence seem to be the order of the day in the region with people inside and outside the sport appearing to condemn the notion of going there for the sake of a motor race. Others though, are keen for the race to go ahead. What should Bernie do?
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It’s a difficult question to answer and one I’m...
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Why Perez Should Not Join Ferrari
Ah Ferrari. The name evokes images of fast cars, wealth, Italy and flair. Many of the greatest drivers have competed for the famous marque and the majority of aspiring and current F1 drivers would love to drive for them. Sergio Perez is certainly amongst them and definitely in with a shout of achieving that dream, but is it a wise move?
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Perez has been on Ferrari’s radar for a long...
March 2012
6 posts
4 tags
AMAZING IN MALAYSIA
When Fernando Alonso first drove for Renault, ITV did a feature on him which involved him doing card tricks. At the time, I thought it was a gimmick, a publicity stunt – make out he’s a pleasant, affable sort of a chap who you’d like to have at a dinner party doing tricks for your guests and sell some more cars along the way. It turns out, it wasn’t a publicity stunt at all. He...
Worth the Wait?
Yes. Once again, Australia has proven to be a great venue for the first race of the year. We had some great action, drama (although not a lot right at the front) and we had a team-driver combination other than Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull leading the way…
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Let’s look at the front first of all. Jenson drove a blinding race in Australia, winning for the third year in four. He...
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Sky And The BBC - Who Won?
Perhaps ashamedly, I decided to pay for the Sky F1 channel when it was launched. I have to admit, even before the race weekend, I was quite impressed by some of the content provided. Past F1 season reviews, interviews with legendary F1 drivers, a decent preview show and more, all kept me entertained.
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But it’s the race weekend that matters. Sky’s presentation is pretty slick and they...
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Australia Thoughts and Roxy's Exclusive in...
Woohoo! At last F1 is properly back! We’ve had the first race and the Australian GP proved a great spectacle to kick off the season opener, not least because Jenson Button won – my fave! I got him at 9-1 to take the title pre-season. Can’t say I’m hugely confident about that but got to have faith! In fact that sentence seems to sum up Button’s perception by many fans. Even...
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What Do We Know So Far?
At last, we’ve entered the final week of the F1 vacuum that has been the 2011/12 winter break. Testing is over, the teams are Down Under ready for the start of the first practice session and the long awaited end to answering the same question for the umpteenth time, “Who’s fastest?”. Seeing as no-one seems to have any sort of definitive answer to that, let’s talk about what we do...
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Three Things Hamilton Must Do To Take The 2012...
Lewis Hamilton, the man everyone once thought they’d have to beat for a long time to come, spent most of 2011 beating himself. So what does he need to do differently in 2012?
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1. Use his mirrors
There was more than one occasion in 2011 where Lewis found himself looking at the pointy end of the finger of blame because of failing to do this. For example, in Belgium he ended up in...
February 2012
5 posts
2 tags
Why Do I Love F1?
Image Courtesy of the kids window
Since I was thirteen years old, Formula One has been a central part of my life. I think I’ve always had an interest in the sport - I had a pedal-power F1 car in which I raced up and down the garden when I was little, like they did on the television (and in my imagination just as fast!)
The aftermath of Senna’s death stirred a morbid curiosity within...
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Can di Resta Kick On in 2012?
The 2011 season saw a great start to Paul di Resta’s F1 career, finishing the year as the highest placed rookie. He came into Formula 1 with a big reputation, having beaten Vettel when they were team mates in Formula 3, taken the DTM championship in 2010 (against several former F1 drivers) and received the backing of Mercedes, who don’t offer their support to whoever knocks on their...
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A Spanner in the Works for F1 in Pubs?
I saw this worrying article in the Independent this morning
Whilst this is about Premier League coverage, it does have significant implications for F1 coverage in Pubs as it’s all about a copyright battle across European countries.
The ruling has also caused euroviewsport to temporarily suspend its service whilst it considers the best way forward.
What goes for the Premier League also...
6 tags
WHO'S PUTTING WHOSE NOSE OUT OF JOINT THIS YEAR?
Anyone who’s followed the launch of the new 2012 F1 cars and the first period of testing last week, will instantly say the answer to that is McLaren. That would certainly be the fighting talk answer too. However. the true answer is the FIA, and their technical regulation tweaks for this year.
Possessing a hardcore – perhaps ridiculous – obsession with F1 (I’m single, give me break,...
4 tags
Why Is Vettel So Good?
The first thing to say in answering this question is that for the last few years, he has had a great car at his disposal, which often helps to show off a driver’s strengths and cloud any weaknesses. However, Mark Webber also had the same great car underneath him and unfortunately for him, found himself pootling about making Vettel look quite...
January 2012
1 post
2 tags
Winter Warm-up
So the darkness of the winter is finally starting to lift and the Formula One launch season will soon be upon us. For F1 fans out there who cannot bear the lonely off-season and cannot bring themselves to look at a Formula One headline until the bark of a V8 engine is almost within earshot, here is a brief run-down of the news making the headlines over the last...
December 2011
1 post
5 tags
Watch all F1 Races for less than £70?
Having put my rather unhappy thoughts about the BBC Sky F1 TV deal down on paper a few days ago, I thought there has to be another (cheaper) way.
Now I am no techie but my investigations did highlight some interesting stuff.
My attention was first drawn to this article in the Daily Telegraph
Okay, so why not use a foreign decoder in the UK to receive all F1 live races?
First, we know that you...
November 2011
4 posts
4 tags
BBC and Sky F1 TV Deal - The Winners and Losers
So a lot of the details about the 2012 F1 TV coverage for UK viewers have now been released. Here’s my take on it all. First the nitty gritty:
The BBC will cover live the following 10 races:
China, 15 April Spain, 13 May Monaco, 27 May Europe, 24 June Britain, 8 July Belgium, 2 Sept Singapore, 23 Sept Korea, 14 Oct Abu Dhabi, 4 Nov Brazil, 25 Nov
For the above live races, full practice...
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WEBBER AT LAST IN BRAZIL
The passionate Paulistas played host to the last round of the 2011 Formula One World Championship today. Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a city of contrasts, with the rich living in opulence overlooking the ramshackled, poverty ridden favelas. When F1 comes to town, the contrasts are marked, but the intense love the Brazilian people have for Formula One is reciprocated by the sport, transcending the...
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LEWIS BRILLIANT IN ABU DHABI
Having equalled the record for the highest number of poles in a single season, and on a circuit that was expected to test the overtaking gizmos to their limits, it looked as though Vettel was set to take yet another win in his extraordinary season. It didn’t quite work out that way.
Starting from pole, Vettel made a great start but found himself at a standstill and perpendicular to the track...
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ELEVEN AND COUNTING FOR VETTEL IN INDIA
Mr Ecclestone’s quest to take Formula 1 into uncharted waters continued this weekend, this time with a trip to the hustling, bustling and spectacular India. The Buddh International Circuit received a universal thumbs up from the drivers who loved the high speed natural flowing nature of the layout. The organisers seemed to have avoided making a generic, purpose-built track and created...
October 2011
1 post
A Badger in Belgium - A Journalist's Diary of...
Ben James, one of the writing team from BadgerGP (the second biggest F1 website in the UK) joined us for the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps. His ‘warts n’ all’ two part diary gives you an insight on what goes on at an intentsGP camping weekend as well as discovering what takes place behind the scenes to make everything happen for the customers. You can read his...
September 2011
5 posts
5 tags
SUPER SEB'S SINGAPORE SLING
Formula One’s annual night race at the spectacular Singapore today provided Sebastian Vettel with his first opportunity to put the championship beyond the reach of his rivals and the chance to become the youngest double world champion in the sport’s history. He started the race in his customary pole position with his team mate second and the McLarens and Ferraris lined up two by two...
9 tags
Vettel Monsters Monza
One of the most historic and evocative sporting venues of them all played host to the travelling circus that is Formula 1 today. Over the years,Monza has seen every side of this sport - be it triumph, tragedy, controversy or world champions in floods of tears. It was a race which Red Bull expected to struggle in, but unfortunately for the other teams it was the easiest struggle they were...
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WatchHere’s another vid of us leaving the campsite and making our way to Brussels. Again, nothing groundbreaking, just a bit of fun.
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WatchJust for a bit of fun we’ve been doing some time lapse photography throughout the 2011 season. Here’s the first of a few showing our trip from Calais to Brugge. We’ll try and do these (a little more professionally in the future) at most events just for fun really.
Hope you like ; )
7 tags
SEB'S SPA TREATMENT
A wet weekend at Spa is nothing unusual and the rain certainly made for an interesting set of practice and qualifying sessions. Raceday however was dry and something of a trip into the unknown for a lot of the field with so few laps having been run in the dry over the weekend. The race started as it meant to go on – action-packed from the off. Rosberg sprung the real surprise. His car was...
August 2011
1 post
3 tags
Changeable weather? It must be Button
The last race before F1’s summer break was a cracker and set up the second half of the season brilliantly. Rain before the start promised a challenging Hungarian Grand Prix, Vettel and Hamilton started on the front row with Button just behind in third. Everyone behaved themselves when the lights went out and Button and Hamilton started as they meant to go on, going wheel to wheel...
July 2011
4 posts
6 tags
TRAGEDY IN F1
Today I received emails, phone calls and text messages of condolence, commiseration and sympathy. Not because of a sick relative, a dying pet or the end of a marriage, but because my beloved Formula One as I know it, had been stolen from me. Now I’m a big F1 fan - it’s the only sport I’ve ever really been into, but the problem is I’m also pretty, erm, ‘careful...
tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?
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Lewis hits back at The 'Ring
A cold, damp and distinctly British-looking Nürburging was the venue for the German Grand Prix. The circuit is a mere shadow of the old Nordschleife track but is often the scene for quite an action-packed race, frequently helped by rain. Unusually, the front row of the grid was Vettel-less, the current leader had to make do with an almost sluggish third place with his team mate Webber on...
