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You’d not think that Angry Birds and Formula 1 would have much to do with each other – other than to keep Nick Heidfeld occupied when he’s hanging around the paddock feeling unwanted. But not so this week – and surprisingly, in more ways than one. Crowd gamingApparently there’s something called crowd gaming. From what I can gather, this involves crowds making a lot of noise and something happening on a big screen as a result. A company involved in such things – Uplause – recently announced a deal with Rovio, they behind the aforementioned mobile gaming phenomenon. The fruits of this deal will be seen for the first time at the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend. How will it work? The specifics are a little vague. But then, the noise of a crowd is a a little vague as a control method for a game, isn’t it? Probably safe to assume that a louder crowd will be a more successful crowd. It does sound like fun though; it usually is when large crowds act together. Rumours that the pigs will take on the likeness of Flavio Briatore for this weekend are as yet unconfirmed… “Apparently these are Angry Birds”Formula 1 collided with Angry Birds earlier in the week, too, when F1 journalist Adam Cooper found himself unexpectedly flying to Singapore on a special Angry Birds themed flight. His baffled tweets on the matter (here, here, here, here and here) were most amusing, and just a tiny bit fearful. Photo Credit
It’s ten years since the first Rockingham 500, when the Northamptonshire circuit welcomed to this green and pleasant land the oval-stylings of North American open-wheel racing, in the form of CART. To celebrate, the BTCC meeting at the weekend featured a demonstration run by an old Penske IndyCar, blasting around the oval. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately it’s also only nine years since the last Rockingham 500. There was a road race on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in 2003, but since then: nothing. The failure to tempt American oval racing to these shores on a permanent basis leaves Rockingham as something of a curiosity. The oval is still used – for Pick Up Truck Racing – but the overwhelming majority of racing is now on the road course.
The oval has its benefits though. It makes Rockingham a pretty unique spectating experience as BTCC circuits go: it’s completely flat, and from the grandstands which line half of the perimeter, you can see virtually the whole track. Plus the paddock is always open, and you can even watch from the atop the pit garages. It’s great. The problem is filling those grandstands. Their capacity is a huge 52,000, of which more than 40,000 were reportedly filled in 2008. This year? Only two of the five grandstands were open, and there was no issue getting a seat. I was last at Rockingham in 2007, and it was definitely busier then too. So what’s the problem? Well, there’s nothing much wrong with the track: it played host to three eminently enjoyable touring car races. Its location can’t help though: Silverstone and Donington Park are both within 50 miles of the circuit, and easier to get to by road. I love wandering around those more traditional circuits, but there’s a lot to be said for the sheer ease and accessibility of Rockingham too. It’s different, and it’s nice that it’s there to add a bit of variety to the UK’s motorsport landscape. I just wish I’d known about those CART races ten years ago; Corby can’t have known what hit it. Thanks to Dunlop Inside Racing for inviting me to Rockingham. You can still win tickets for Brands Hatch and Silverstone in their BTCC prize draw.
I’m really pleased for Bradley Smith. He was brave to pass up the opportunity to move up to MotoGP in 2012 with Tech3. Now he’s been rewarded with an even better deal: another year with Tech3 in Moto2, then moving up to MotoGP with the team for two years from 2013. It is, without question, an outstanding deal. Not bad for a ginger lad from Oxfordshire. It makes for a potentially awkward situation at Tech3 though. Cal Crutchlow has a two-year deal, so continues with the team for 2012. Colin Edwards is moving on, so the team has a bike to fill for 2012. There’s no secret about who is in the running: Alvaro Bautista, should Suzuki pull out of the sport; and Andrea Dovizioso, who is out of favour at Honda, but may stick with the manufacturer on a satellite machine. Failing that, there’s Eugene Laverty, who is out of a ride following Yamaha’s withdrawal from World Superbikes. Whoever gets the ride, it’s hard to imagine them wanting less than a two-year contract. So unless the new rider agrees to a one-year deal, Tech3 would have it’s line-up for 2013 sorted already. Which would be fine, except that it doesn’t include one of their riders for 2012: Cal Crutchlow, who may face knowing that his services won’t be required for 2013, before the 2011 season is even over. In short: if Tech3 sign their new rider for two years, Crutchlow will effectively be handed a year’s notice. Not ideal. Hopefully that will be avoided; otherwise it’s going to require some careful management. Photo Credit The news today was that Michael Caine will be driving a third Ford Focus for Airwaves Racing in the BTCC at Rockingham. That’s Michael Caine, to be intentionally confused with that Michael Caine, for hilarious comic effect. Not here though. Instead, let’s see how the Michael Caines compare. (That’s not to be confused with the chef Michael Caines, who coincidentally is working with Williams F1 this season.) Let’s just have a table.
Quite similar, then. Photo Credits The business side of Formula 1 is murky to say the least. The ownership structure is a tangle of companies, as perfectly illustrated by this diagram from Joe Saward a few months back. With the Gribkowsky case going on, and CVC in the news this week, it’s all rather serious. But there’s a fun side to Formula 1 companies too: the companies using the Formula 1 name in rather more spurious ways. By searching for ‘Formula 1′ on Companies House, it’s easy to find these companies: they’re the ones not based at 6 Princes Gate, London – AKA Bernie HQ. So there’s the genuine Formula One Limited, but also Edinburgh’s Formula 1 Limited, the business of which is “buying & sell own real estate”. Associating your company name with the pinnacle of motorsport is no guarantee of success though. All now dissolved or liquidated: the self-explanatory Formula One Cleaning Ltd, Formula 1 Drinks Limited and Formula 1 Labour Services Limited; the regional Formula 1 (Newcastle) Ltd and Formula 1 (North East) Limited. Thankfully Formula One (Brighton) Limited is still active. There are, inevitably, a lot of automotive-related companies trying bask in a bit of reflected glory. There’s also some rather more unexpected re-purposing of the sport. Formula One Home Improvements Ltd – the obvious place to turn to for painting and decorating. You wouldn’t think that Formula 1 would be the best way to make your golf business stand out, but try telling that to Formula 1 Golf Limited. Need a doctor? Try Formula 1 Locums Limited.
With an obvious affinity, you’d think that Formula One Yachts Limited would be on to a good thing. Alas it’s now a dormant company. And if a company can’t trade on F1 to sell yachts, then we’re all doomed. Photo Credit
Like last year, when he emerged as an unstoppable force in 125cc, Marc Marquez has been one of the most interesting riders to watch this season. It initially looked like he was struggling to adjust to Moto2, with a couple of retirements and a 21st place. But since winning the fourth round of the championship – which, coincidentally, is the same point in the season that he won his first 125cc race last year – he’s been reeling in championship leader Stefan Bradl. Marquez is now only a smidgen more than a race win behind Bradl, with six races still to go. The title isn’t out of reach of Marquez, then. He would become only the second rider, since grand prix motorcycle racing settled down to three classes in 1990, to win championships in different classes in consecutive years. The rider who’s already done it? Dani Pedrosa: 2003 125cc World Champion, 2004 250cc World Champion. Incidentally, it took Valentino Rossi two seasons to win each class: 125cc in 1997, 250cc in 1999, 500cc in 2001.
Maintaining momentumBut of course Pedrosa hasn’t – yet (if you want to be optimistic) – managed to convert his lower class success into a premier class title. He’s certainly not alone in that: as previously discussed, Loris Capirossi won three world championships in 125cc and 250cc, but things never quite went his way in the premier class. His retirement, announced today, is almost certainly for the best. But let’s not dwell on his recent struggles, and instead remember his not-insignificant achievements. Suffice it to say, though, that continued championship success in MotoGP is not guaranteed for those, like Marquez, currently excelling in the lower classes. Success from nowhereSuccess isn’t always seen coming, either. Who, for example, expected Stefan Bradl to be leading the Moto2 championship? His previous best result was 4th in the 2008 125cc season, and he only won his first grand prix last year. Or consider Casey Stoner. He was relatively anonymous before moving up to MotoGP: 29th, 12th, 8th, 5th and 2nd in the lower classes. And now look at him. The lessonIf you’re not winning now, past success has a nasty habit of being forgotten. Unless you’re Valentino Rossi, obviously. Photo Credits
It’s seemed like a long old summer break, but Formula 1 is back, and at Spa no less. There are plenty of reasons to love the circuit, but for me the highlight is one of F1′s greatest corner names: Pouhon. I’m looking forward to hearing how David Coulthard pronounces it in the commentary – especially since he won’t need to concentrate on getting Nick Heidfeld’s name right. If memory serves, Jonathan Legard used to really make a meal of Pouhon. So to speak. It’s the start of a good run for corner names, with Monza next on the calendar. That means only one thing: Curva di Lesmo. Just to prove that I’m not entirely childish, a couple of races after that it’s off to Suzuka, home of my very favourite corner name: Spoon Curve. Presumably named because it looks a bit like a spoon. Brilliant.
Sadly, with Istanbul Park likely to be absent from the 2012 calendar, we’ve probably already said goodbye to my final corner name highlight: Turn 8. Most of the new circuits are distinctly lacking in both imaginative corners and imaginative corner names. Turn 8 at Istanbul Park might have only a generic label, but through sheer force of character, it’s broken free and come to mean that turn 8. The Turkish Grand Prix might not have accomplished much in its seven years, but making a proper corner name out of a sequentially assigned number is something, I suppose. Photo Credit
Formula 1 is on its summer break, and as we’ve established, anything passes for news. In fact, even in busier times, anything a former driver says has a habit of being turned into ‘news’. So, it was with great excitement that I spotted quotes from 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter in a magazine, which even news-starved F1 websites don’t seem to have picked up on. That’s got ‘NEWS’ written all over it, right? Let’s see what he had to say:
Yeah, I probably should have pointed out that the magazine is Waitrose Kitchen, and the feature is mainly about Laverstoke Park Farm. Where by ‘mainly’ I mean ‘entirely’. No comments about Kimi Raikkonen; no thoughts on Sebastian Vettel’s dominance; nothing to say about Michael Schumacher’s comeback. Oh well. If Laverstoke Park Farm fancy sending me some delicious organic produce to, er, review, then I’ll be only too happy to oblige. I’ll keep an eye on my emails… Photo Credit
There was much rejoicing yesterday when AUTOSPORT.com reported comments made by Jacques Villeneuve in an interview with Brazilian website TotalRace, regarding fellow former Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen:
Cue understandable calls of pot, kettle and black. That’s quite apart from the fact that Villeneuve seems unsure whether Raikkonen actually did win the title. If you can’t remember, Jacques, it’s probably best to keep your thoughts to yourself. (Yes, it probably just got a bit mangled in translation, but that’s no fun.) More non-news, pleaseIt’s these sort of non-stories that keep websites going during the summer break. Doubtless there are more to come before racing gets back under way. I’d like to see Michael Schumacher questioning whether Fernando Alonso used shifty tactics to win his titles. Or Nigel Mansell speaking out to criticise modern drivers for being too boring. Jacques’ gemsBack to Villeneuve, looking at the Google Translate version of the interview, he has even more valuable insight to offer. Pointing out the bloody obvious:
And on Michael Schumacher:
I agree with Villeneuve: as long as Schumacher is walking fast, that’s all that matters. Photo Credit
The Formula 1 summer break is in full swing. The resultant lack of news has freed up some time, and I’ve put it to good use – by playing Formula 1 Google Auto-Complete Word Association. Snappy title, eh? It’s easy: type something F1-related into Google, and see what the top auto-complete suggestions are. I’ve done it for all the drivers. It’s quite illuminating. Sort of. The suggestions for most drivers feature twitter somewhere, and it’s the most common top suggestion. Proof that fans are indeed clamouring to ‘engage’ with F1 via ‘social media’. Which equates to following drivers on Twitter – Facebook doesn’t get a look in, as far as Google’s concerned. RelationshipsThe next most common top suggestion is girlfriend – often for drivers whose private lives are actually private. Evidently salacious gossip is in demand in F1 circles as it is elsewhere. Personally I couldn’t care less who, if anyone, Sebastian Vettel might be having relations with. There’s obviously speculation of another kind going on too, with gay cropping up four times. Adrian Sutil is the only one for whom it is the top suggestion – surprising, given the interest around his activities in a Shanghai nightclub, which account for the next suggestions (eric lux and fight). Small menAnother word that crops up a lot is height. Often for the shorter members of the paddock – take a tiny bow, Nick Heidfeld – but also the taller likes of Mark Webber and Vitaly Petrov. At least Heidfeld can be satisfied that, with goodwood, he is also remembered for setting the fastest time on the hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1999. Specific eventsA lot of drivers are remembered for specific events. Some even older than Heidfeld’s: Rubens Barrichello’s horrific crash at Imola in 1994 (imola crash 1994), for example. Others are very recent: Pedro de la Rosa driving for Sauber with ten minutes notice in Canada this year, and going out in McLaren overalls as a result (mclaren overalls). Improbably, hits marshall is a suggestion for two drivers. In the case of Sebastien Buemi, it refers to this demo run in Japan earlier this year when, for some reason, a marshal ended up trying – and failing – to jump the car. The other is Pastor Maldonado, in relation to the 2005 incident under yellow flags in Monaco. Unusual associationsI’m not sure if people are querying his nationality, or whether they’re interested in the pronunciation of his surname (he drops the second ‘i’), but italian is a suggestion for the definitely Australian Daniel Ricciardo. Spare a thought for actual Italian Jarno Trulli, for whom wine is the top suggestion. He must be pleased by the interest in his wine business, but would perhaps still prefer to be thought of first as a racing driver. The full listContinue reading for the full list. The suggestions are constantly changing, so it’s very much as at the time of writing. Look out for Pastor Maldonado’s braces, Jenson Button’s endorsements, signs that Jerome d’Ambrosio’s nickname is sticking, and how boring Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher are. |
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