[ This article was diligently submitted by the author before time. But in a massive fail, accepted by The Editor, it has come up slightly late making the information somewhat dated. Read: Pre-race qualification piece being published post-qualification. The Editor can cite a million excuses, but hell, you are not here to read that, are you? Let's get on with it. Thanks to Deva, and due apologies.]
.
.
Race Preview
With Kimi rallying around the globe, Spa Francochamps will miss a sure winner. Why, he won the race 4 out of the last 5 times it was held!
The Bull with the Wings is really flying high this season with the Prancing Horse close at its heels. (Aside: Is it a coincidence that Red Bull’s principal’s last name is Horner? One thing is for sure, their amazing run this year is no co-incidence!) The race is for Vettel to lose. He is sure to qualify at the pole and the long straights will help him come home comfortably sans any mechanical failure. (slight oops here: Ed)
.
Vettel has started from pole in 7 out of 12 races this season – the Bull in his RB—it really has wings! But ironically ‘Baby Schumi’ has only managed to convert the pole advantage twice into victory. Seems like he is yet to find a firm footing on the jumping and bouncing bull (send him to Spain, we say!). If he grabs the pole in all the remaining 7 races, he might equal Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 poles in 1992! But surely this would be demeaning to his teammate Webber, double world champion Alonso and the ‘hoon’ Hamilton! Let us have some ‘team orders’ in place for restoration of self respect; ban the performing drivers for a few races!
Thanks to Vettel’s erratic run, the drivers’ championship is anybody’s to take. (No, that does not include Michael Schumacher)
Team Dis ‘orders’
Sportsmanship has hit an iceberg, cracked in the middle and unceremoniously sunk to the bottom of the ocean. If ‘team orders’ continue to happen, F1 will soon be an endangered species. Ferrari times and again have resorted to manipulate race result and favor the driver (Alonso in this case) more likely to win Championship. They’ve been doing it since Schumacher was pushed ahead of Barrichello at his home asphalt and Kimi as a title contender in 2007 was favored over Massa in China! Vintage videos of Senna knocking Teammate Prost at Suzuka in 1989 should be made a mandatory watch for them. That’s how it’s supposed to be. No Sir, it is not quite cricket. And that’s how Mr. Hemingway preferred it to be; for he counted motor sports amongst only 3 sports with bull fighting and mountain climbing the other two! (Aside: the reader must read Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway at his best, describing the Bull Fighting season in Barcelona) For him rest all were games!
A requiem for a champion
To relieve former champions and satiate their insatiable hunger for more, FIA should look to ATP, which has a legends category in the grand slams. This will keep Schumi, and the likes of Jacque Villeneuve, Damon Hill and other Downhills at bay. A race of legends of the sport on the qualifying day will add up to the fun. I say they should take a cue from a wise bloke of yesteryears, Motilal Nehru and include ‘hang your boots till you are dead’ in the clause! Not everyone is Lauda! Shoo off Schumi. It’s Baby Schumis’ time to bloom. And for Christ’ sake, spare F1 from the Rocky movie type reprises.
What Alec Smart must be wondering :
Have we seen Flying Finn’s F1 career ‘Finnish’. Also, when will the lanky Pole grab the pole?
And finally, prediction time:
Podium prediction? Alonso, Webber, Hamilton! (Sorry Vettel)
Crash prediction: Everyone from 14 to 24. That would leave Schumi at the rear. Awesome.
Pingback: Flushed Out Meadows – How the US Open is on fire, literally! | The Big Show