Selection box - It is crash or make the move - Brazilian racing, McLaren drama and a Motorsport Manager review
Published by Christine
It may come as no surprise to you that this week's selection of brilliant links from around the web are mostly focused on two main subjects: Max Verstappen and Ron Dennis. The pair of them have made headlines for two very different reasons, and there's plenty to dissect about each story. I've got a few other bits and bobs for you too, so let's dive straight in with a different topic.
Ross Brawn has been doing the rounds to promote his new book about strategic thinking, and although you've probably seen or heard from him already, it's always nice to catch up with what the Brawnster is up to.
He laughs at the suggestion that, according to some racing insiders, Brawn taking charge of F1’s sporting side is certain. “No, that’s not a done deal.” Does it remain a distinct possibility? “I don’t know where it will go, to be honest. I’ve given them my views on Formula One and what could be helpful. Chase Carey [the new chairman of the sport] is going to races and understanding the business.
Now, the topic of the moment, the Brazilian Grand Prix - the rain, the drama, and Max's incredible drive to the podium.
With youth often comes a good form of not knowing what you shouldn't do. In other words, he's naive, but in a positive way. Too many drivers, after just a few years, start to follow what they think they should do. And they believe what they think they should believe.
Chief Race Engineer Andrew Shovlin explains how the team adapted its race strategy to the extremely wet conditions during the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Asked how he could still not rate him despite those overtakes and keeping his car out of the wall after a half spin at the final turn, Collins added: “He just turns up to each corner, whacks on the brakes and it is crash or make the move.”
Rain before the start of a modern-day grand prix and we know what’s coming. A Safety Car parade. In the circuit grandstands and on sofas around the world, millions of viewers’ enthusiastic emotions sink in disappointment as their Nomex-clad heroes creep off the grid in their carbon-fibre race cars behind a slow and sluggish wanna-be sports car.
Moving on to Ron Dennis and his swift departure from a team that he turned into a successful and iconic Formula One name.
Certainly Ojjeh continued to make his life difficult. When, at the end of the season, Dennis wanted to keep Kevin Magnussen to partner Fernando Alonso in 2015, it was Ojjeh who stepped in and undermined him, forcing him to take Jenson Button instead.
"Focus is thought to be good, obsession is thought to be bad. But basically they're the same thing. And then there's ego. Ego is a core ingredient of ambition. Ambition and ego are close bed-fellows. And, like everybody I suppose, I seek happiness. It's an uncomplicated objective."
The simple figures behind the Dennis hegemony tell of expanding McLaren from 50 to 3,250 employees and winning more than 20 F1 world championships along the way. The details are more complex -- as befits the man himself -- but intriguing because of it.
Next up, a couple of links from budding motorsport journalists, who are in the process of, or building up, their blogs - perhaps bookmark these to watch how they grow!
Stroll had a lot of help from the Williams team this year to help him secure his FIA European F3 title – from tests in the wind tunnel to wing mirrors being made by the team in Oxfordshire. Without large payments, he arguably wouldn’t have received the amount of success that he has had. Not everyone on the grid can afford to do what Stroll has done.
As soon as I fell in love with F1 (helped in part by Max Verstappen, I’ll admit it), it became something all consuming for me. I watched everything I could on it, I read books, followed every driver on every social media platform, scrawled through Wikipedia to find out about the classic races and read my dad’s ‘Autosport’ religiously.
Finally, three fun and slightly lighter links, of very different topics: an FIA initiative, a game review, and a unique history lesson in motoring milestones.
Formula One drivers have lent their support to the campaign. These include: Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Jenson Button, Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean, Esteban Gutiérrez, Kevin Magnussen, Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg, Stoffel Vandoorne, Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Alexander Wurz.
Disappointment is an inherent part of motorsport. Maybe it's not where you'll find the bulk of the appeal, but it's certainly a massive part of the reality. It's about crashing out in your final ever home grand prix, coasting to a halt within minutes of a surefire victory in a 24 hour race or frittering away thousands of your own hard-earned cash for the unsung glory of a midfield finish; it's the heartbreak that defines the sport, and it's something that's central to Motorsport Manager's depiction of it.
120 years ago this week, a red-letter day in the history of British motoring saw the Emancipation Run from London to Brighton to celebrate the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement to be preceded by a man on foot.
