Monday 26th October 2015

Motorsport on Monday: 26/10/15

Winning and whining in F1, Mikkelsen's the man and the Formula E power cut is over

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Well, that was a thriller, wasn't it? Lewis Hamilton has become a three-time F1 World Champion, and scooped back-to-back titles, after team-mate Nico Rosberg went wide and handed Lewis the all-important points advantage. This time, he didn't even need to muscle his way past either: unlike at the first corner, Nico did it all of his own accord. It means Hamilton joins a select roll call of three-time World Champions, comprising of Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Sir Jackie Stewart. Who's above him? Just Vettel, Prost, Fangio and Schumacher.

Pity Lewis' rather racy start is co-dominating the headlines today, rather than the fact he's triumphed so relatively early in the season. Nico is understandably rather brassed off that Lewis didn't turn his steering wheel enough, forcing him to turn out of it and lose a fistful of places; to avoid potential fisticuffs, Mercedes-AMG boss Toto Wolff is already planning talks to ensure things don't spiral (although Lewis did already apologise on the radio). Coming so soon after he muscled Nico in Suzuka, it does potentially ensure on-going interest in the now-sealed 2015 championship should the pair go all Prost/Senna.

At least the race victory itself wasn't questionable, meaning this incident may hopefully be forgotten rather more quickly than Spa 2014 when it was Rosberg driving into Hamilton. It is a fascinating insight into racing driver psyche though: for all his chatter about not bothering whether he won the title in the US or Mexico, Hamilton was still clearly determined enough to lead at the first corner to risk committing the ultimate sin and clattering out his team-mate. It's the split-second decisions like that which really mark out the racers - question is, how fine is the line between racing and ruthlessness?

Andreas Mikkelsen wins!
Volkswagen Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen has grabbed his first WRC victory in Cataluña in the most dramatic fashion - when team-mate Sebastien Ogier crashed on the very final stage of the event. The normally metronomic Frenchman went into the final stage with an enormous lead, only to clatter a barrier, destroy a wheel and lose the win. An amazing turn of events; Mikkelsen would, I'm sure, liked to have won in different circumstances but, hey, a win's a win: he didn't stack it and so deserves the plaudits.

It's been a long time coming for the Norwegian who had a rather stellar career in the junior ranks with Skoda. Going up against Ogier must be frightening, so Loeb-like is he, but here's hoping the first one can be a springboard for more. That is, of course, if dieselgate-riddled Volkswagen is able to stay in WRC: at least the Polo WRC cars aren't powered by diesel...

Formula E is back
The curious race calendar of Formula E means the 2015/16 season this week got underway, as so many other series in the world being to wrap up theirs. The Chinese event was dominated by Swiss ex-F1 driver Sebastien Buemi, who led from ex-F1 driver Lucas di Grassi and ex-F1 driver Nick Heidfeld (scoring the Mahindra team's first-ever podium). Reigning champion Nelson Piquet Jr was two laps down in 15th after a troubled race, behind ex-F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve.

There's new tech for 2015. Eight of the 10 teams are running their own drivetrains, rather than the stock setups from the debut season (and so becoming manufacturers), and battery power is up from 150kW to 170kW. The rather controversial Fanboost has been revised for 2015/16 as well - with more of it, rather than less.

Using hashtags, fans can vote for the most deserving three drivers through the Formula E website or app, plus Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They can also do it for a time during the race itself, which is why the Fanboost kick doesn't, er, kick in until drivers swap into their second cars (yes, they still do that). Rather crucially, it's no longer a one-shot boost, but an extra reserve of power the drivers can meter out as they see fit. Making it much more of a tactical trick than last season's rather one-dimensional solution.

True race fans are still unlikely to celebrate the idea, but for the new generation of enthusiast brought up on games consoles whom Formula E is trying to attract, it does still have merit as an interesting audience engagement tool. What do you think? Will you be downloading the app?

[LivewareProblem]

I'm glad the Fanboost was revised from its previous incarnation, was a bit comical

If only they could drive somewhere that's actually interesting rather than the lacklustre 5 minute car park jobs they seem to race on

[samoht]

Lewis simply found slightly less grip than expected when he arrived at the apex. First corner of the first lap, unknown track conditions etc.

You can tell the difference between this time and in Suzuka, because when it's deliberate, Lewis follows the normal optimum racing line, ending up at the outside edge of the track, with Nico on the kerb losing traction and places.

This time, Lewis ran wide early and ended up on the kerb himself, which is not what you do if you want the best traction out of the corner. Hence it was a misjudgment, for which Lewis apologised on team radio. Same as Nico did at the first corner of Sochi last year, except he didn't have the excuse of a damp track, and he over-cooked it a lot more and lost the race by doing so.

[dc2rr07]

LivewareProblem said:

I'm glad the Fanboost was revised from its previous incarnation, was a bit comical

If only they could drive somewhere that's actually interesting rather than the lacklustre 5 minute car park jobs they seem to race on

So the race is still been dictated to by the amount of fans and not the outright talent of the driver and machine, not to mention two cars are required to get you to the end of the race so it still is comical IMHO.

Have to agree on the circuits, racing through the streets of London I believe we where promised.

Also well done Lewis.

Edited by dc2rr07 on Monday 26th October 13:24

[marshall100]

It's a shame that a generation of youngsters won't have seen that win, what with the mess that F1 broadcasting has got itself into.

On the race highlights that I watched, I got the genuine impression that the live race would have been pretty decent, but strangely found myself completely unable to get excited about the events unfolding in front of me. Very strange.

[Spekkie]

Put Verstappen next to Hamilton next year and you'll have the best season ever.

[PhantomPH]

marshall100 said:

On the race highlights that I watched, I got the genuine impression that the live race would have been pretty decent...

It was. For a modern-era GP, there were very few obvious flat moments during the full race. Lets not forget that a whole bunch of times this season and last, I've been able to fall asleep after 10 laps and wake up in time for the end without really feeling like I've missed anything (and having that confirmed by the wife who remained awake!).

Ever since Rosberg started in F1, I have predicted him as one day being world champion. I still stand by that prediction - however increasingly these days I struggle to like the guy. He is NOT a likeable racer. He's a petulant child a lot of the time. Quite the opposite of that, I've found myself really warming to Vettel over the last few seasons. He seems like a genuine guy and has always shown evidence of being a real racer.

I'm old school - I like a racer. I like someone who will make the other drivers fight for it. Rubbing is racing. F1 is going the same way as the premier league - nobody challenges like a man anymore.

[300bhp/ton]

LivewareProblem said:

I'm glad the Fanboost was revised from its previous incarnation, was a bit comical

If only they could drive somewhere that's actually interesting rather than the lacklustre 5 minute car park jobs they seem to race on

I watched a race at Long Beach last season (on TV, not in person sadly!). Which I thought was far more interesting than most of the normal regular race tracks we normally see.

[marshall100]

PhantomPH said:

Ever since Rosberg started in F1, I have predicted him as one day being world champion. I still stand by that prediction - however increasingly these days I struggle to like the guy. He is NOT a likeable racer. He's a petulant child a lot of the time. Quite the opposite of that, I've found myself really warming to Vettel over the last few seasons. He seems like a genuine guy and has always shown evidence of being a real racer.

Rosberg is a tus, seems to think that winning a couple of races like is old man is enough to walk away with the championship. He must be wondering what he has to do to win a WDC, but I don't think he'll ever get the better of Lewis in the same team.

[PhantomPH]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I would add Senna to that list - as a British fan. He was always the pantomime villain to Our Nige's il Leone. However, it's a picture of Senna's Lotus and a 1:2 replica of Senna's race helmet that are in my hallway at home.

Schumacher was hated by the fans during much of his race career - yet held in hugely high regard now. I've never heard the Top Gear audience yell and applaud louder that when the 'Fake Stig' was revealed and it was Schuey underneath.

F1 has always been a show. The F1 Circus. In any show, there are characters who are the bad guys. And just like any show, when the actor takes their bow at the end the audience will applaud and respect what they have seen.

FWIW - I have never really warmed to Lewis. I don't mind the lad, but he is just as much of a sore loser as anyone (as you say). When he won at the weekend, I clapped for a minute and then shouted at the TV, "Check out the McLaren! Check out Button!" and was just as happy at that result as Lewis' championship. I'm a real Button fan - I just think he's not been in the right car since Brawn.

[zeDuffMan]

Spekkie said:

Put Verstappen next to Hamilton next year and you'll have the best season ever.

I might be overselling it a bit but I think F1 is pretty safe for a few years with Verstappen on the grid. He needs to get into the main RBR team or jump to another front running car asap.