Selection box - Bored drivers - A handy set of links for the Red Bull drivers with nothing to do
Published by Christine
Despite us only being a couple of weeks into the new year, the news keeps coming thick and fast, with changes of leadership in two of the top teams and the ongoing troubles at Manor. It's also Autosport International this weekend, so we're starting to hear news from the attendees as well, particularly if they are interviewed on the main stage. To keep you occupied if you're not there, here's a roundup of recent Formula One links that are worth your attention.
Let's start with two recaps of the 2016 season, with a write up from an outside perspective and then a top ten from the official F1 video team.
Ultimately, Rosberg did a brilliant job winning the championship. It’s been so close between the two of them the past couple of years and this year was no different of course. Rosberg was able to turn it on mid-season to gain a big enough advantage over Lewis, where he did not have to get into a dogfight for position but merely had to maintain his points gap.
In reverse order, we countdown the top ten moments across the F1 airwaves during the 2016 season.
Next up a couple of pieces relating to the long time F1 broadcaster Martin Brundle - one article about him, one written by him.
Hearing Brundle talk about his heart attack was remarkable, just two weeks before winning at Le Mans in the LMP3 support race. We knew at the time that Brundle had a medical procedure, we just did not know the extraordinary circumstances behind it.
Martin Brundle first tested for McLaren at Silverstone alongside fellow F3 star Ayrton Senna in 1983. A full 11 years would pass before he replaced Senna and experienced his single season as a race driver for the team in 1994. In this latest instalment of McLaren and Me, Grand Prix driver turned TV presenter, Martin Brundle, shares his exclusive insight with McLaren.com.
Moving on to the news of Manor's troubles which was perhaps not a surprise but has raised eyebrows, particularly with regards to the sport's response. I've also included an interesting link about Claire Williams' thoughts on pay drivers.
My thoughts also veered towards the hundreds of staff both back at base in Banbury and trackside who tirelessly labour week in and week out to give their drivers the best machinery possible. The thought that such a large amount of people face immediate uncertainty is not an easy one to stomach and I feel sorry for them on this dark day.
The sport’s key players are intelligent, well intentioned men that have either not been able to force through their ideas or got it completely wrong. Allowing teams to govern the regulations and therefore themselves has been tried time and again and whenever it fails it appears obvious that they need independant governance.
Is it okay to disagree with Claire Williams from time to time? I find myself in one of those situations at the moment concerning her pay-driver Lance Stroll. I defended the young man, and his father, when the mobocracy on social media had a go at them for paying their way into a top seat in F1 and lambasted the concept of paying drivers—which I said was a reality in today’s motorsport world.
As the first post in our next batch says, it's been more like the silly season for teams rather than drivers recently, and the following two links talk of Frederic Vasseur's departure from Renault.
It’s fair to say last year was a very tough one for Renault but alongside managing director Cyril Abiteboul, they set about making big changes and recruiting new people. Renault have sounded pretty confident about the 2017 season with new driver Nico Hulkenberg alongside Jolyon Palmer, but just a few months before the first race, Vasseur has decided to leave.
The Enstone part of the operation – a very fine and pedigreed racing team labelled initially as Toleman, subsequently Benetton, Renault, Lotus and finally Renault once again – was always run separately from both the parent company and the Viry-based engine department. But its separate ownership during the Lotus years has brought its circumstances badly out of kilter with Renault Sport.
Finally, two more light-hearted links. The first is not an F1 blog per se, but when you're making your own resolutions for the coming year, have you included an F1 goal?
Go to a Formula One Grand Prix or go to a testing weekend, or just see a Formula One car on a track somewhere. I went to the Monaco Grand Prix practice day in 2014 and it was sooo good and I want to experience that again (several times a year for the rest of my life would be great!).
And of course, I couldn't post this without including the fun video from Red Bull showing their impatient drivers having to wait for the cars to be ready and the season to arrive. Bless!
When you're still over 10 weeks away from the start of an F1 season... Daniel and Max are longing for the start of the new season, are you?
