SofaF1

I remember talking to Nick a few years ago about Mark Webber. He had been doing well in Formula One, he had been getting known and at the time he was making particular waves because his driving style so suited being a single lap qualifier. There was a moment when I saw an interview with him and it was a revelation, he had crashed off from the track and everyone watching had though that the car had let go somewhere in the turn. And yet when he was interviewed by Louise (or somebody) he said clear as a bell, “no it wasn’t the car – it was my fault, I just missed the apex”.

It was an amazing statement from a Formula One driver and I remember talking to Nick and Stewart here and saying that this one incident was a sign that Mark was World Champion material. I argued at the time that there was something in the bravery of that honesty, the fact that he was willing to admit that it was his fault that would make him capable of taking things to the top. Both Stewart and Nick tried to dissuade me from my position. Stew talked about the fact that (as I remember it) he was a Truli in the making, fast on a one lap but couldn’t keep it together in a race. And Nick made the point that stuck with me I think, he said something like “you’re being an idealistic fool, this doesn’t mean that he’s honest it means that he’s week. If he’s blaming himself then it’s not a sign of character in Formula One it’s a sign that he’s just trying to please somebody else. And anyone who is only doing things for someone else doesn’t care enough to win”. It was something like that anyway.

I’ve been trying to gauge how right the two of them have been ever since. I knew the moment I’d calmed down (say the next day) that I’d been wrong about him. I knew really deep down that I’d called it right when I’d seen him the first year that he’d be splashy but not championship material. I’d like to take this opportunity to say: “yada yada Kimi when nobody believed me, yada yada Alonso when nobody had noticed, yada yada Monterio when – hold on… getting a bit ahead of myself”. But the point is this was a miss read based on psychology rather than something I’d seen on the track – probably a mistaken thing to do. Although you do have to pay attention to that kind of stuff because the splashy drivers (Montoya is a great example, Ralf and Fisi as well) are not always the ones who will win championships. They often seem to get bored if they aren’t able to do something that would make people talk about them and then they seem to fall asleep in the race (Not literally James). So paying attention to the psychology of the driver is important.

In this case you would assume that you would get two kinds of driver, the ones that say honestly what happened: sometimes they say it was their fault and sometimes they say they think it was somebody else’s fault, and the other type who always say it’s somebody else’s fault. But actually it turns out that Mark Webber is the only driver in the first camp and in fact he isn’t being mentally hard by being willing to blame himself he’s being weak because he blames himself even when it isn’t always his fault (he’s getting a bit better at this though). And almost all of the other drivers fall into the second camp. They fall of the road and suddenly it’s the engineers fault or another drivers fault or a small bird flew in front of them and they had to move out of the way. There is always somebody else to blame and if it’s so obvious that they did it on purpose then they will fall back on the old favourite of “it was just a racing incident I guess”.

The thing is that there is another camp of driver who don’t fall into either side of the blame game (or at least not often). And funnily enough they are Kimi, Alonso and Michael. Listen to what they say and it’s always, “we’re not really sure what happened. I haven’t seen the tape yet. I have to talk with my engineers to be able to fully say exactly what went on”. It doesn’t blame anyone which is good if you want to keep your engineers on side, and presumably that’s quite an important thing.

So with all of that in mind what do we make of the comments to come out of Nico Rosberg yesterday? Rosberg backs driver coaching it’s a very interesting point and it’s actually quite a brave thing to say. I’ve often wondered about the coach thing in Formula 1. They often do have coaches who deal with the drivers fitness and mental toughness (which is probably more important in F1 than any other sport). But what about working on reactions, turn in, watching the repeat with the driver and focusing their mind on why they are missing that apex each time. Who does that? Well apparently nobody.

I’ve been trying to decide about Nico all season, is he all flash and no bang (as Martin might say) or is he indeed the real deal? It’s very difficult to tell while all of the glare is on him. People keep saying too much about him and it’s difficult to see for yourself (like you sometimes can with a neglected backmarker). But this is one of those things that made me think – hey he’s very brave to have said that, I respect that, that probably means that he can be world champion some day. But am I wrong? Am I falling into the Mark Webber trap again? Is it really some kind of cry for help saying that despite what everyone is expecting of him he knows in his heart that he isn’t good enough?

Has Rosberg got that special something?

Perhaps it’s a bit late to reminisce about the loss of Juan Pablo, and I never particularly thought he was a great driver, but seeing the lack of overtaking last weekend in France did make me miss him chucking his car around and lurching it into corners later than anyone else, only a lap after James had said you can’t overtake there, as if he was playing a video game on invincible mode. My favourite moments?

Spa a few years ago and his two (or three?) moves down into the Bus stop. I think I remember him actually pushing Michael out of the way.

Also, the fastest lap ever in a Formula 1 car which he performed at Monza. That was mind-blowing stuff.

Looking at the comments from Renault in the shape of Flav I wonder if perhaps bridgestone have come back to the top.

The natural conclusion from a Ferrari return to form is to look at the engines or the new parts being brought to the car and at first look that appears to match. We all assumed that Bridgestone didn’t win at Indy but that Michelan in their need not to make the same mistakes again went too cautious and lost. And we also know that Ferrari brought a load of new parts to France. So far so good.

But watching the race last weekend one thing grabbed me instantly – Ferrari are doing something new with their tires. You could see that on the degraded tires at the end of the race. They had been trying something new. Now I will say that I wasn’t able to tell if this means the tires have improved of if it is that the update on the Ferrari itself allows them to use the Bridgestone better. But in a way it doesn’t matter which. It just means that Renault are going to have a lot of work on their hands if they are going to avoid Ferrari beating them for the rest of the season. Maybe that’s why Flav seemed so uncharacteristicly upset. Either that or his kidney stone was giving him gip.

It seems that Indianapolis was just a one off and that Renault and Alonso might be back on top again this weekend. But Ferrari have definitely closed the gap. BMW still seem competitive, and De la Rosa is a good racer new in the McLaren. So, for pole I’m going to go with Schumacher, and the race:

1. Alonso
2. Schumacher
3. Fisichella

My crazy prediction of the week: De la Rosa to lose his front wing on the first lap at the Adelaide hairpin, but make a charge back into the points after that.

Hopefully Alex will find an internet cafe in Italy and send us his predictions!

So Montoya’s out of F1 and off to Nascar!

To be honest this stif doesn’t quite sort out much as he hasn’t really been linked with any of the big drives. His heart really doesn’t seem to have been in F1 this year so the switch probably makes sense.

In many ways I’ll miss him as I do whenever a driver leaves F1. You’ve learnt about them and worked out their quirks and so you mind when they go. I’ve never really gelled with Montoya however, I like him as a person but on the track he’s never really lit my fire.

So how long will we have to wait or Kimi to decide? (or announce his decision)

Honda / BAR has never been the same since David Richards left. He turned the team around and made them move forwards but he wasn’t given enough time to see what he’d done come to fruition. The same is true of his time at Renault. When he was there he had even less time to see what he had done.

But with Prodrive he’ll be his own boss and won’t suddenly get ousted mid season.

If you were Dave Richards and you were looking for some employees, wouldn’t you try and find say for example a disgruntled technical director that you’d liked and had really got on with from your Honda / BAR days like Geoff Willis? And wouldn’t you go and find a former Renault Technical Director Mike Gascoine who also is out of a job recently and looking for direction, he worked with Dave Richards at Renault (not sure how they got on).

The reduction in form in Honda came one year after Richards left, so basically a really good car was designed under his direction and then after he left the good car he’d built flattered his successors.

So Prodrive won’t join F1 until 2008 but he’ll be needing his technical people in place as soon as he can get them. So expect at least one of either Geoff or Mike. If it’s one it’s likely to be Geoff, but it could be both. I think they both know how to get a fast F1 car built for less money than you’d expect. I think maybe the reason both of them have done less well in the last couple of years is because their bosses have been able suddenly to throw money at any problems that they have.

It’s worth noting that all of this might be for naught, because by 2008 although they might have a great car it is also the year that Jenson’s contract will be up for renewal with Honda so Dave might ruin it all by hiring Jenson.

The look on Michael’s face said it all. He loved winning that race so much that I think it will refresh and reinvigorate his season. Sure the tires were a factor but there is a massive aero upgrade coming to the Ferrari in two weeks. Maybe he’ll be able to keep on top of things. Although you’d have to say that Renault and Michelan will want to win in France quite badly.

On a personal level I will be sitting in a bar in Italy watching the race so I think I’ll be rooting for the Ferraris or at the very least the resurgent Fisi or Truli.

On the commentating front I think Truli was a deserving driver of the day. And while James still made mistakes, and still said stupid things. He did seem more excited this week. But then it’s easy to get excited when the racing was that much fun.

Did you spot the new graphic?

It was for when two cars are racing each other through the pit-stops. It showed a map of the track and where the second car was on the lap – giving us a great idea if a driver would retain/lose their place. I think they only showed it for Coulthard/Liuzzi and Ralf/Alonso, but it was still very good, and would be great for when the leaders are racing for position.

…England have crashed out of the World Cup, how long will it be before somebody says on today’s program, “Well with England out of the World cup this is your best chance to see an English chance of success, although I’m not sure how well Jenson Button is going to do today”.

If somebody does it will be completely ignoring the chances of Andy Murray in the tennis therefore making it wrong as well as irrelevant – but I still bet somebody does it.

Another early evening grand prix beckons this weekend, this time in the USA. This is the only race that Alonso hasn’t won (the only race that Michael hasn’t won is Turkey). In fact Alonso has never even finished at Indy. But those sort of things don’t phase the world champion. Certainly not this season. He’s been ticking off all of the circuits he’s never won and in many ways it will be a suprise if he doesn’t have the set by the end of this weekend. So who can stand in his way?

First we have the wild card in the shape of Kimi. That McClaren was looking pretty racey during the last race and Kimi will be determined to prove Ron Dennis wrong after the public telling off that he got after the last race (Ron said he’d over revved the engine during the first pit stop which meant the wheel was turning when the pit man was trying to put the tire on, and that then he over compensated in the second pit and under revved which is why he stalled).

The only problem with all of these ideas is that the Renault just seems faster and stronger. And as they have the same tires there doesn’t seem to be much hope.

Unless you’re on a different tire. After the disaster that was the US Michelan tire last year it wouldn’t be suprising to find that Michelan have brought a more conservative tire choice to this race than they might otherwise have.

So this could be Michael’s big chance. The cars looking good, and with a little heat his tires really could come to him even at the start of the race (an area the bridgestones have really struggled with).

So look for good form from the bridgestone runners, a continuing improvement from BMW, a charge from Kimi and a possible win from Michael. But if you discount Alonso then then you must be crazier than Sato.