Formula Fast

Lewis Hamilton?

That's right!  If you know anything about openwheel racing you'll know that Ron Dennis has been preparing Lewis Hamilton to do what he did on Sunday for a very long time.  So it's no surprise that the rookie made podium and almost took second from an obviously concerned Fernando Alonso.  This is going to be very interesting. 

The other big surprise is that both McLarens finished the race.  In fact, it was an unusually uneventful race day in terms of reliability.  However, don't let this be an indication of things to come.  Remember Ferrari won the race.  In F1 there is a constant battle between reliability and performance.  Finding the optimum point means you finish the race.  You have to push envelope in order to win.  As usual Ferrari came to play.  When you start seeing Alonso or Hamilton take or fight for the lead you'll know that McLaren is pushing.

Not surprising was that Giancarlo was never a contender in the race.  This is typical Fisichella.  He just does not give it his all. Or maybe he just doesn't have it.  On the other hand, there is DC in the Red Bull.  Although one has to question his judgment, you have to give him kudos for diving under Wurz to try for ninth.  That's why it's called a race.  You try to win.  Yeah! And sometimes it doesn't pay off.  I was impressed with the speed and handling of the Red Bull pair.  Keep an eye on these two.

So again, we're left with the obvious.  Ferrari

Here We Go!

Finally the time has come for the new F1 season to start.  So here are some things to think about:

• Now that Kimi has a decent car, will he show up as the "ICEMAN" or just another wannabe driving the fastest and most reliable machine on the planet
• How about Alonso?  He had a tough time at the end of last season when F1 forced Renault to stop using the thingamagig that allowed Renault to handle so well.  Will McLaren's rust buckets continue to break down and disappoint?  Don't get me wrong, I respect McLaren's long and distinguished history in the sport but designing and building cool, fast. well handling, high-tech cars is not enough.  You have to be able to finish the race.
• Will Jenson Button be able to get another win this year?  Maybe if it snows during the race?
• How about Frick and Frack the Toyota drivers?  Is it possible that they could fail again this year?  Can money buy F1 trophies? Why is it that the world's largest and most successful automaker can't deliver at all costs?  I have an idea!  Maybe they should convert their F1 rides to NASCAR tin cans.

I know this is all too much to think about but I can't wait to get the answers to some of these questions.

Happy watching!

Road Course Lesson

If there was any question about Formula 1 driver's skills before the NASCAR Busch series race in Mexico City last week, Juan Pablo Montoya put Ricky Bobby in his place.  That is not to say that NASCAR drivers are not skilled but in a road race F1 drivers rule regardless of what equipment they're in.

Montoya was leading the race with about thirty five laps remaining.  However, as luck would have it, when he pitted his crew was not able to fuel him up because of an overflow hose problem.  No problem.  Montoya had to pit again and ended up nineteenth with twenty eight laps to go.  He proceeded to take each of the nineteen places back and won the race.  Some will complain about his aggressive driving style; including knocking Scott Pruett out to take the lead.  However, I say do it.  You're there to win.  Motor racing is not a team sport.  It is all about winning.  If you're slow then get out of the way.

What a race!!

Anticipation

One of the only benefits of the break in the Formula 1 season is the incredible anticipation one feels as the first race date approaches on March 17th.  In fact, I've been been so ready for the start of the racing season that I watched the Daytona 500 NASCAR race.  It looks like Juan Pablo will need some serious luck to become a contender in this venue.  But there is another type of anticipation.

Something that I realized, as I watched, was how much parity exists in NASCAR and other forms of motor racing and wondered if F1 should strive for more parity.  One thing I found I really enjoyed about the Daytona race was not knowing the probable outcome of the race until the last lap.  I do realize that not all NASCAR races end with a photo finish but they are certainly less predictable than F1 races.  This kind of anticipation makes the race much more enjoyable.  I don't think anyone would argue that watching last lap duels such as those between Michael and Alonso are the best part of racing. 

Another anticipated event is Kimi's first race for team Ferrari.  For years, we have watched as engines blew, tires and suspensions failed and Kimi's frustration grew.  We've known the Iceman is good but we will soon find out just how good he is when he takes the wheel of open wheel's most reliable machine.  Will McLaren  finally  get it right?  Is it just-in-time reliability for Fernando?