BMW didn't do things by halves in the Zandvoort round of DTM this weekend. It won both races. It was second in both races. Indeed, it filled the podium in both races. And there's more - in the second race, the finishing order was BMWs 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Beat that? The first race did: BMWs were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th.
Yep, that's a lot of BMWs out front...
Now admittedly, the DTM is restricted to the big German brands, who spend millions creating repmobile-shaped F1 cars that are fiendishly difficult and precise to drive quickly and consistently; just like on the M1, it's Audi v BMW v Mercedes-Benz. But even by those standards, such BMW domination is extraordinary.
Simply put, Zandvoort suited Munich, making for a particularly happy reigning champion Marco Whittmann, who triumphed in the first race. Particularly as it was a little unexpected: so far, he's down in seventh in the championship, with British Audi driver Jamie Green still leading on 81 points. That despite finishing the second race way back in 13th place...
Merhi, Merhi, quite contrary
Don't unduly slow down right after the finish line, the Formula Renault 3.5 racers were warned before this weekend's Red Bull Ring race. So what did FR3.5 and F1 driver Roberto Merhi go and do after race one? You've got it: and in doing so, he caused a massive accident as Nicholas Latifi, racing Tom Dillmann to the line, rear-ended him and rolled.
It was an extraordinary crash that makes for eye-opening viewing on YouTube. For which Merhi was quite rightly excluded from both races - and that's after already picking up a 10-second penalty in the first race for exceeding the track limits. Not that he accepted it, mind, dubbing the penalty "excessive".
See the vid for why he's in trouble
I don't know why he slowed, but I do know it's an alarming illustration of something that's riled me for years - drivers slowing down as the cross the finish line to start waving/weeping/doing funny quacking duck hand gestures (wonder if Alonso still remembers them?).
Not so long ago, racers raced across the finish line, in an explosion of flag-waving glory, and it was great. The team on the pit wall cheered, the fist-pumping gestures from the cockpit were thrilling, and the culmination of the race was absolute. Now, though, it's more commonplace for winning drivers with a decent margin to creep over the line in a fizzle - and the more boring the race and more absolute the domination, the more exaggerated this meander to the flag becomes. See any number of Schumacher's crushing victories with Ferrari.
Merhi's incident highlights the dangers of this, if you've got drivers racing behind you. I'm sure any decent F1 driver would have the sense and spatial awareness not to do this, but it still gives the FIA reason to implore drivers not to do it on safety grounds.
If you're racing, dammit, race to the flag!
Next Oz GP not until April 3 2016
Next year Formula 1 is going to Azerbaijan, with the inaugural Grand Prix at Baku. It's part of a largest-ever 21-race 2016 calendar, although the race will not be called Azerbaijan, but known as the European Grand Prix. No, I'm not quite sure either.
The series will also have its latest start since 1988, with the first race in Oz held on April 3. The Silverstone race is also one week earlier, on 26 June, thus avoiding a clash with Wimbledon and sadly thus meaning it might not rain during the weekend. Oh, and let's hope Nico Rosberg doesn't win this year's championship: as it stands (and as keen PHers have pointed out), the German GP is listed - but the location is TBC and we all know what happened this year....
See them again at Snetterton!
Good breaking news from the BTCC: the popular Motorbase team returns for Snetterton, after taking a half-year sabbatical to develop the new Ecoboost engine for its Ford Focus ST racers. This was partly forced upon the team by the late withdrawal of its title sponsor Airwaves, but instead of giving up, team boss David Bartrum has regrouped and will be hoping for good things when Mat Jackson and James Cole get back on the grid in Norfolk next month.
We'll get a first taste of how comparatively fast they are this week, in fact: look out for times from the official Dunlop tyre test at Snet on Thursday 16 July.