Tuesday, May 26, 2015

F1 is a fix....FACT*

*All facts gathered from people claiming to be genuine F1 and driver fans.

So there you have it, straight from the mouths of unbiased, well informed fans of the sport, the whole thing is just a big show, which is fixed and predetermined by powerful people, with the wins going to the highest bidder. (or something like that)

I thought I would write this blog in order to address some of the questions (in the form of abusive posts) I have received on a simple comment on the Mercedes F1 teams Facebook page.

It read a little something like this..

One question for the angry Hamilton fans out there. If it's foul play, if it's a fix, if it's the plan to have Nico as world champion...... Why is Lewis Hamilton the current world champion, with the same team they were both with last season. And while you are at it, why the hell would Mercedes have just given Lewis another 3 year contract? 
Bad ending to the race, not the first time it has happened in F1, won't be the last. Now get a grip, and move on to Canada like the rest of the fans. 
Thank you Mercedes for having the decency to speak to the fans direct, and offer answers. To the proper questions at least. 

The point I was trying to make was actually quite simple. People were batting around the idea that Mercedes want a German champion, but if that were the case, why is Lewis the current world champion, with the same team and team mate as last year. If Mercedes yearn for this German driver in a German car match up so much. And why indeed have they just RE-signed Lewis for 3 more years.

At no point have I attacked a driver or individual within the team. Some of the replies were constructive, others a little less so, heck some people even went as far as reallocating people a new nationality in order to make their point.. Apparently Toto Wolff is now German. Anyway, I was saying about the fans and their facts that its a fix. And of course the fans and their comments.

Here are a couple of replies I received.

Sherry Ann Ramroop If it was a fix?????Did you see the look on Lewis face?????

Jayme Zazworsky-Opincar If it's not a fix, are we to assume they honestly can't do basic math? Because that's what their error comes down to.....

Riki EspadroniThis one is easy hahaha! Because he is a FAR superior driver to Rosberg. Something that is obvious to everyone but Nico fans and people who hate Hamilton just because. How would you like to have driven a masterful race only to have some idiot mess it up? Hamilton is supposed to be a "good little boy" and high five? A 20+ second lead on a tight course is major. Not to mention his qualifying time was 1.4 seconds off of the track record with a V6 hybrid. Stop being so foolish...
Keira FoxI dont hate Nico or think it was a fix. However I do believe someone needs a headbutt for being such a dufus. Honestly, even if Nico and Seb pitted, Lewis would still have easily won because his tyres were only 30 laps old and right before the race people were saying the compound was quite hard for Monaco and the prime would do all 78 laps if needed. Therefore Lewis tyres would have been fine to hold 1st place for 10 laps. Can I also state I think Grosjean was more to blame than Verstappen, Anyone else agree? I really think the penalty was OTT
Mouna Mardini I think you have short memory ,last year was even worst for Lewis with a lot of sabotage...the only reason Lewis is the champion is because he is the better driver and nothing changes that fact

A mixed bag im sure you agree.

My personal favourites come from another post, which I was told a little about myself

Lovely people, so polite. I love constructive conversations.

Right, so lets look at the facts now. F1 is indeed a fix, a show, nothing more.

Lets for the sake of the Monaco argument take Mercedes F1
Lewis and Nico both drove for Mercedes F1 in 2014. Lewis fought off all challenges, including some high profile questionable moments of the season, and reigned victorious, claiming his second F1 Championship. There were moments of bad blood, and some great wheel to wheel racing, but in 2014 the best man won. Fact..

This year however, with events at Monaco, it is now being suggested that Mercedes F1 want a German champion in their German car, for the German team. With the late pit stop being put down to team tactics to fabricate a win for the German driver by some, this is the factual basis of the title of this blog entry.


Its flawed.
IF F1 is a fix, IF Mercedes are orchestrating the races to generate the winners they want... Then in fact Lewis was handed the 2014 F1 Championship on a plate.
Now I know the immediate answer to this is written above, Lewis is the far superior driver, and won under his own steam. Well in my books, yes I agree, he did win fair and square, as fair as you can get in motor racing anyway. But you can't have your cake and eat it. If its a fix, then its a fix, and Lewis was handed 2014. If its not a fix, then stop crying about a simple and bad decision by the team.

The team said from the start of the saga "we messed up", Lewis said from the off "we win together, we lose together" and stated he too was in on the decision. Lauda expressed his anger at a bad decision. What more do people want to realise it was a genuine mistake.

But lets say for a second it WAS a fix, that it was done on purpose. Lets look at that.
First up, at what point was this fix masterminded? Was Max Verstappen in on the ploy? Did Torro Rosso agree to throw millions of pounds of car into a barrier, along with risking young Max's life, to help another German team win one race? Did an evil genius leave a note on the pit wall saying "Open only if there is a safety car towards the end of the race, Lewis is winning and Nico is within 20 seconds"..With instructions on how to call Lewis in, brainwash him into agreeing it was the right call etc?

Speaking of Lewis, he said he made a bad call himself, he said he thought the others were pitting. People have responded saying the team could have at least told him that this was not the case. OK, fair enough, they could have. But Lewis said he thought he saw something on a screen indicating it was fact, so why would he even question it? Why waste time on pointless conversation when you know something? Actually, was there even time to have such a discussion.
Its so easy playing devils advocate on these matters, but F1 cars move kinda fast, there is only one pit entry, in reality only one pit window to use during the safety car. For example if Lewis saw the screen a couple of corners before the pit entry, hit the radio button and said, guys im coming in for tyres, by which point he was approaching the it entry, there would be little time to say no, and losing a lap of opportunity would be suicide in itself.

So lets be real about this for a second. As painful as it is to see a win just slip away like that. An incident over which Mercedes had no bearing occurred, causing a virtual then actual safety car. Lewis thought he saw Nico and Seb pitting via a screen around the track, thinking on his toes, not wanting 2 cars with new tyres challenging him on the restart, he called in for tyres. The team agreed with the decision, failing to identify that it would put him out behind them by a close margin. Was the question ever asked about Nico pitting? Who knows. Did it have bad consequences, clearly yes. Is Nico somehow involved in this "ploy", was he always the hopeful recipient of a gifted win, unlikely.

Its F1, its fast, furious, arse clenching, seat of the pants decision making. Sometimes people get it wrong. No conspiracy, no fixing.

Lewis took it very well, behaved admirably, and conducted himself with dignity in the face of a soul crushing loss, which he accepts some blame for. So why oh why do so many people insist on making it out to be something that it wasn't. Mistakes happen, lessons are learned, drivers and teams move on. Maybe its time the fans (and me) did too.
Put it to bed people, let it go, and look forwards to Lewis' fight back in Canada, defending his points lead and indeed his title.

Oh one last thing.. Nico and his celebration. It was hardly over dramatic, not theatrical, and he said himself he was blessed and very lucky, possibly his luckiest ever. Humble but victorious. This is Monaco, the show stopper, the cat walk, the show reel for the big money in F1. Its an awful race, one that possibly should not even be considered a race anymore, but never the less its a necessary evil on the calender. So boring in fact that I stopped watching half way through on Sunday.
For Nico to have taken the trophy then sat on the step sulking, or not smiled or celebrated would have been improper and borderline offensive to the waiting crowd.
Im sure if some of the mature folk who have commented on my Facebook comments were there, they would have welcomed him with booing and jeering, just to show how mature they really are. Thankfully the crowd were genuine F1 fans, and showed some respect.

In short, the summary of the above.
Shit happens, its a sport. Get over it.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Formula 1, Nico Rosberg, and Lewis Hamilton

Its been a while since I have written a blog, certainly a long time since I have felt compelled to air my views on something so strongly. Not that my voice matters, but its boiling up inside of me so here goes.

My feelings on Lewis Hamilton have changed back and forth over the years. In times of frustration he has been known to sulk a little and seems to have gained a reputation with the negative media for being childish and a dummy spitter.
That said, time after time Lewis has shown himself to be an amazing driver, a great personality, and a deserving winner of both races and championships. As time has gone on I have realised that all in all he is a good guy, great at what he does, but just a little complex to read at times. Emotions show through and he is being a baby, hide them and he is being arrogant.

Then there is Nico. For me I have always seen Nico as a genuine guy, heart on his sleeve and saying it as he sees it. Happy times, sad times, whatever he is feeling is what is shown on the front. Rarely bitter in defeat, but not unheard of, Nico strikes me as someone who strives to have a good PR game, and tries to perform with grace. He has shown he has the spirit to win at times. However over recent times he seems to have been a little down trodden and settle for #2.

So Monaco..... Last year we had the lock up and over shoot scandal. Forcing his way to pole, ruining Lewis's chances of the position, and therefore stealing the race. A year later, the jury is still out on the matter, with different "experts" batting their feelings on the matter around again on the build up to this years race. Sky F1 for example, Johnny Herbert did 5 mins on the surface and approach to the corner this year, showing undulations in the surface, suspension bouncing, body flexing, and explaining how some favour the right to avoid uneven loads. This was followed by OvershootGate with all the theories once again resurfacing. Even though it had just been explained.

This year, pretty clear cut quali, Nico locking up a couple of times, but no impeding anyone in doing so. Lewis takes pole. Phew!
Or so we thought!

Half way through a rather dull race, I decided to go and wash my cars, so knew nothing of what would happen in the last 12 laps or so. Reading a comment on Facebook I realised that positions had changed, and looking at social media, could see it was getting messy already. Watching the highlights a short while later, there it was, Max having a huge crash (glad he is ok), safety car, and with so little time left, a strange decision by the team and Hamilton to pit.... Was passing at Monaco ever really that much of a threat.
In post race interviews, both the team and Lewis took part of the blame for the decision, and agreed it was a very badly thought out one, with dire consequences. How communication could have been so bad I don't know, but shit happens, and mistakes are made. That's just how it goes. You win some, you lose some. At times you take a gamble and it blows up in your face.

So post race, interviews with the media showed a rather disappointed Lewis Hamilton, and rightly so, and a very happy, and somewhat gracious (or I saw it that way) Nico Rosberg. From the first interview he sung Lewis praises, empathised as he is able to do, and said Lewis deserved the win.

So, so far, its a race, with an unexpected outcome, a disappointed driver, a happy driver, and a team in conflict with itself. All as expected there then really.

Now lets look at the fans....WOW !

As I have said I am all for backing someone and supporting them, even defending them (even though they don't know me, and probably don't care about my thoughts)
But some people take it all a little too far.. No scratch that, some people take it WAY too far. With personal attacks on the drivers (people they know little about), spiteful comments, and I would think that they even make the person they are supporting cringe a little with some of the comments made.

Lets take a look at a few of the comments posted on Nico Rosberg's Facebook page...

Henry Felix Mwesigwa Shame upon you Nico for the celebrations you made to day in Monaco as if u had won the race when actually u were just cheated into winning the race. Total shame and embarrassment to Mercedes team. U can cheat into winning but can't break Lewis Hamilton's fighting spirit and talent.

Mark Jones Learn to win with grace , you did not deserve to win , so why celebrate like that , I'm sorry but you came across as smug , when really you hould have been more humble and realise the situation you were in , that's why your not a champion

Christina Justice Gillardo Thank Mercedes for handing you the win that you absolutely DID NOT deserve!!! Lewis is a better person and driver than you will ever be.

There are many more where these came from.

One of the biggest complaints, from what I assume are the Hamilton fans is how Nico behaved on the podium. Huge celebrations.
Lets be honest for a second here about a couple of things.
Firstly, this is Monaco, EVERYTHING is big and overdone in Monaco, its the F1 showcase, its the fashion show, the catwalk of Formula 1. The race itself is generally a huge parade, with little overtaking or position changing, unless there is some bad luck.
Secondly, a win IS a win, you can't deny that. Gifted or fought for, crossing the line first is what matters. In the rules, a mistake was made by a team, no one cheated or broke rules. Nico crossed the line first, so celebrate. I imagine there would be even more fury if Nico had "stolen" the win, then refused to show any excitement or celebration in doing so.

At this point I would hazard a guess that Lewis and all other drivers would love to distance themselves from the true haters out there. We all have cheeky snipes, and comments about the ones we don't want to win, god only knows how many jabs I have taken at Hamilton over time, especially when he has acted like a child, or that play the race card moment he had.

I just don't understand where so much anger and hatred comes from in these people, especially given that 99.9% have never met and probably never will meet both their idol and their adversary. Having an opinion on something is all well and good, I mean, look at me typing away. But going to town, assassinating someone's character, judging them far beyond the limitations of the track and sport, and in some peoples cases, obsessing to the extend of hunting out every piece of positive media on someone, and airing an opinion on it, shooting them down with hatred and contempt. That's is borderline worrying.

For me, sadly, this has all become part of modern day sport. Social media is a wonderful thing, self expression, joining a global conversation, airing an opinion. All welcome for sure. But them some take it to a whole other level.

For me, Monaco, Mercedes, Lewis and Nico...
Merc brought a great package to the race, and gave themselves the best possible start. Lewis drove away from the start and controlled the race, as he does so well. Nico stayed close enough to take advantage of any mistakes by driver or team. The mistake was made, Nico was in the right place, gained from the error, and took the flag.
Nico's post race comments were very generous to Lewis, humble in the win, praise for his team mate who he said deserved the win.
Lewis was pretty restrained, not much he could say about the situation, but was nice not to see a hissy fit.
Mercedes admitted an error.
Nico celebrated Monaco style, and as any winner of an F1 race should.

Then sadly the people who call themselves fans destroyed the whole thing with a barrage of hatred and abuse.

Fair play to Mercedes to trying to calm things down a little.

So my message to you 'fans' out there.
Get a grip, its a sport, there will always be winners and losers. Celebrate wins, and take defeat with dignity. The drivers managed it, why can't you?
Here's to Canada, when the on track fight starts all over again, hopefully with a little less off track, on-line immaturity and pathetic behaviour from all the fans.