Formula One in the wild

It is easy to forget just how impressive a Formula One car can be. Seeing the thoroughbred machines around a demanding section of circuit such as the slalom of Silverstone’s Becketts or the big dipper at Eau Rouge is one thing but taking them completely away from their comfort zone is the only way to truly appreciate how viciously fast and edgy a Grand Prix steed can be. The video above features David Coulthard taking a 2009 -vintage Red Bull around the ranches and the streets of Texas before heading to the forthcoming Circuit of the Americas of Texas, the pompously-titled track that will herald the comeback of Formula One to the USA. It currently only exists as a life-size outline in the dirt, who needs to see another F1 car on tarmac anyway? With all the Tilke-designed tracks dominating the Formula One decade we have become numb to the appeal of wide-expanses of flat grey roads, this is something a touch more exhilarating. The glorious slow motion shots convey the energy expended by a racing car even when the driver is being told to reign in the horses and temper the urge to tread the outer-limits of physics in the pursuit of speed.

OK, so driving on dirt, ice or on a beach is only done in an F1 car for show rather than sport, but there is the occasional circuit that takes Formula One into the unknown and gives us a glimpse of their fury, none more so than this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. The track around Marina Bay is the video game made real, the kind of venue that F1′s futurist ethos and extreme excess deserves.

With the demise of true road racing the street circuit has been elevated to the ultimate challenge for man and machine. Walls reach out and touch the fleet cars, the usually unmoved suspension bucks on the drain covers that we barely notice in our daily existence; it is the morning commute on fast forward. Nelson Piquet once likened driving at Monaco to riding a bicycle around your living room. That must have been muttered by the Brazilian after a dry race, throw in some rain and it becomes even dafter than that. If the weather forecasts are to be believed then the Marina Bay track could become more trying due to the seasonal downpours in that part of the world. Greasy, bumpy city streets lined with solid walls are tough enough in the wet but Singapore’s joker is the fact it is run well into the night under powerful artificial illumination that threatens to dazzle the drivers as it reflects off standing water. The floodlights could very well live up to their name.

There are few scenarios short of Red Bull’s antics in Texas that will turn the F1 car into as much of a fish out of water as what awaits them this Sunday. Even without the added complication of rain the DRS system and Pirelli’s adventurous tyre compounds will provide extra excitement in a race that scarcely needs more livening up unlike the other modern cookie-cutter tracks.

Although Red Bull are due to wrap up the titles sooner or later, Sebastian Vettel is likely going to have to wait to be crowned for a second time. If Vettel wins then Alonso and the Mclarens will need to be on the podium with him to keep their slim hopes alive. There is a great chance of this; Fernando has been the driver to beat here with while Lewis Hamilton is the ultimate street-brawler who exhibited admirable restraint last time out at Monza when faced with Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes which failed to show up on the radar of race control. Whatever the result Singapore has fast become one of the truly great Grand Prix hosts, if nothing else it will be great to see the grid battling for glory in as unique a setting as any. There won’t be any cowboys or lassos, but if anything I think it will be more of a spectacle.

On the Vergne of greatness?

Vergne could be the best Red Bull racer since Vettel (ash-brown)

Trophies tell you one thing, the stopwatch can reveal a little more, but ultimately you can only judge a driver by what your gut tells you. Mine says that a chap by the name of Jean-Eric Vergne is a bit special. Following in the line of Carlin’s Red Bull-backed British F3 champions behind Alguersuari and Ricciardo he is now engaged in a thrilling duel with Robert Wickens for the Renault World Series. There are moves afoot to place the Frenchman in a Torro Rosso for Friday practice during the last few Grand Prix and if I was the type to take a flutter I’d bet he will shine.

A cool customer if ever there was one, Jean-Eric Vergne is 21 years of age and already one of the most experienced of those on the edge of F1. He’s got the speed, a healthy dose of aggression and he just so happens to be a dashing young thing too. There is a rare collection of talent in the Renault World Series this year, to shine in this pack you have to be a decent peddler.

Clearly Red Bull believe in him, Jean-Eric appears to be following an identical path to Ricciardo; soon the Frenchman is to make his debut as a Red Bull Racing pilot at the Abu Dhabi young driver test after his practice outings for Torro Rosso. If it is up to Red Bull he would clearly be in Formula One soon, but a spanner could be in the works for Vergne in the form of the impending sale of Scuderia Torro Rosso. From Monza onwards Spanish oil company Cepsa will appear on the car and those better informed than I are predicting that this is part of a wholesale change of ownership for the team formerly known as Minardi. Let us hope that the new owners pick the fruits of Red Bull’s labours and continue to support their young drivers, although Jamie Alguersuari as a Spaniard will be less worried by the presence of a major brand from his homeland than the Swiss Sebastian Buemi. With only two seats at the main Red Bull team, one of which will belong to Sebastian Vettel for as long as he wants it, there could be a few juniors looking for an alternative way into the top flight rather than the rookie-friendly Torro Rosso squad.

Bye bye Bahrain

As expected the Bahrain Grand Prix has been called off, a sensible decision. For the armchair fans it means one less Grand Prix, for the teams and those who work in F1 it will mean they breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Good luck to those in Bahrain trying to make a difference and let’s hope that Formula One returns to a much happier country next year.

When biggest isn’t big enough

 

Senna and Mansell? No thanks! I'll take winter testing please... (pic RachelC)

After all that stock car action it’s time to turn elsewhere. This morning there were mutterings from the folks in suits in Barcelona that their Grand Prix could be gone in the next couple of years. Artur Mas, President of Catalunya no less, was the one issuing the warning, so the comments shouldn’t be ignored.

 

The El Pais newspaper carried the interview where Mas generally praised the race but warned that economically it doesn’t add up, “Everybody knows that we have restrictions on the budgets and that F1 is loss-making.”

 

So, F1 is loss-making? Clearly nobody told this to Bernie, but from the circuits’ point of view it is almost always true. That never fails to leave me gasping at the sheer audacity of Formula 1, like a fashion house that assumes that basking in the reflection of the star designer is payment enough for the lowly interns. Of course the whole region benefits from a Grand Prix coming to town, unless the race is stuck in a place where it is the only attraction of note, so it all (just) makes sense.

 

Barcelona works as a Grand Prix venue because it is close enough to one of the world’s most spectacular cities. I first went to Barcelona for the race in 1996 and I’ve clocked another three visits since as I fell in love with the place. Senor Mas has thankfully noticed this phenomenon, “we also have to consider the economic impact that it has and how it promotes the country. It places Catalunya in the world.”

 

So, F1 race loses money, but the region benefits. Nothing new there, but in the case of Barcelona it got me wondering just how much money it must have been losing back in the 1990s. Today the Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya is the most attended race of the year as the Alonso-mad fans number close to 200,000. This is despite the second race in Valencia providing Barcelona with a bit of competition these days. Surely things have never been better for the Montmelo track?

 

When I first went to the Spanish Grand Prix there was a crowd that would be dwarfed by most BTCC meetings. We certainly got in and out of the track a lot quicker than we were used to at Donington Park. What’s more there were hardly any locals in the stands. We had French, American, Irish, Italian and Finnish fans around us, we barely noticed a Spanish contingent anywhere.

 

But maybe that was the point – foreign tourism was given a boost by the race which means money was drawn in from far-away. Perhaps the current Alonso-centric crowd would spend their Euros in and around Catalunya regardless of the race being present or not. With one of the three Moto GP meetings held on Spanish soil being held at the Circuit de Catalunya, no doubt for a far smaller fee than F1, it’s not like the track is without any other big events. The Montmelo track has been on the calendar for 20 years – the first of which provided the iconic TV pictures of Senna and Mansell duelling side-by-side with sparks flying. Less people paid to watch that magic moment than have attended F1 testing there over these last few days, which is a stark indication of how Alonso’s success has transformed the image of F1 in Spain.

 

Barcelona isn’t alone; barely a week goes by without the Melbourne politicians getting tetchy despite packing in people by the hundreds of thousands. Anyway, Barcelona has a deal with FOM to host the Spanish Grand Prix until 2016, so don’t expect it to disappear quite as suddenly as the Bahrain race looks set to…