It can’t be easy being the oldest driver in F1. Just ask the BBC’s commentators. I remember Martin Brundle once describing how the fact that he was the oldest driver in the 1996 season caught up with him and began to define him as a driver. Despite having a reasonable season, by the following year […]
What went wrong with Williams?
I’ll be upfront here. While many like Williams, with their “plucky underdog” status and stridently independent approach, they have never been my among my favourite teams. To the extent that I have ever liked them, it has been as the anti-Ferrari. In other words, I like them about as much as I like McLaren, which […]
Bahrain boring? Blame Bernie, not the refuelling ban
It has to be said that the writing was on the wall for the Bahrain Grand Prix before the teams even arrived there. And it’s not due to the refuelling ban. There are arguments for and against refuelling, but on balance I think banning refuelling is a good idea. The legacy of refuelling Some people […]
2009 driver rankings: #25-#11
25. Nelsinho Piquet I don’t think there is much need to justify why I have placed Piquet at the bottom of the list. Suffice it to say that I hope he never races competitively again. 24. Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais spent the 2008 season explaining that we should wait to judge him until the return […]
Jenson Button: a deserving champion?
Belated congratulations to Jenson Button for becoming the 2009 World Champion. I know it’s long overdue, but hey — that’s what happens when real life takes over (more on that real life stuff can be found here). I have not always been convinced that Jenson Button is a good driver. In fact, the only times […]
Sayonara Toyota
The day after Bridgestone announced that they would be leaving Formula 1, it emerged that Toyota were poised to do the same. This was not as much of a shock as Bridgestone’s exit, but it is nonetheless major news. Toyota are the third major manufacturer to leave F1 in just twelve months, and now rumours […]
Brilliant Brazil
I love the Brazilian Grand Prix. It is a unique circuit — not only anti-clockwise, but uniquely short in the same way you might think of Spa-Francorchamps as being uniquely long. It is also special because it has now comprehensively replaced Suzuka as the proper place to settle a World Championship, particularly due to its […]
Congratulations to Jenson Button and Brawn GP
A report on the stunning Brazilian Grand Prix will follow at some point this week. I will also consider the vexed question of whether Jenson Button deserves to win the World Championship. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting Button to seal it in Interlagos, especially after his poor grid position. So I must […]
Melbourne talking points
What an exciting start to the season. I don’t suppose it’s the done thing to yelp at 7am on a Sunday morning and wake the neighbours up, but I think that’s what I did. First of all, hats off to the Brawn team. They’ve been through a lot over the winter. Let’s face it, as […]
Could Melbourne be a dusk race?
We have just about become comfortable with the concept of night races, after the success of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. But in Bernie Ecclestone’s quest to have all races starting at a sociable hour in Europe, could he have inadvertently invented the dusk race? There were a couple of close calls last season. The […]