Archive for the ‘Op-ed’ Category

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The Y Series: F1 Needs a Night Race

Friday, December 29th, 2006

Back around the turn of the millenium, the idea of a night race in F1 was bounced around. the idea was that the Sepang circuit in Malaysia would install hundreds of flood lights and stage a night race, similar to that of NASCAR. The objective of this was to keep the European audience tuned into the race. A race at 7:00PM in Kuala Lumpur would be 12:00 noon for Europe, and 11:00AM for England. It would also be 3:00AM for the poor souls in the Pacific time zone, like myself. But, really, who cares about America? Anyway, the idea was for the night race to be either in the 2001 or 2002 season. Obviously, that idea never came to fruition. While I do like the image I have in my head of Sepang lit up at night, I like less the image of myself looking at the clock reading 3:00AM and the alarm blaring for me to get up to watch the actual race. I would actually think a night race in Europe would be a better idea. Not only would it bring in the European audience during primetime, but it would also all those in America to see it during lunch time. Even Hawaiian would only have to get up at 9:00AM or so.

Now, which European circuit would be best suited to hold this night race? Well, Silverstone, Magny-Cours, and the Nurburgring are too spread out to make it work. Barcelona and the Hungaroring are too boring. Monza would be good, but the locals would complain about the cars not allowing them to make their 6:00PM bed times. Monaco would be awesome, but it’s already cramped as it is. They had to reclaim some land from the harbor for goodness sake. That leaves Spa. O…. My…..

Think of it. Spa. At night. The light dancing between the trees. Hell, it’d probably be raining too. I’d kill to get tickets to sit near Eau Rouge and watch those cars go through it at full bore, at night, maybe through the rain. Awww. Now there is a teeny weentsy problem…

Money. In fact, that’s probably how much the Belgian GP has in the way of funds. Hopefully, Bernie will keep a couple bucks saved up somewhere to fund this project. With the Bernie fund in full affect, this project could go ahead and give us the dream that is a night race at Spa. I hope that Bernie will read this and be inspired to put the money into doing it. I really have no idea on what kind of money would be needed. It may cost $10M-$15M, but I say it’s money well spent. I hope Bernie gets the memo, “Turn the lights on for us, Bernie. Please?”

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I’m scared for Tyler…

Saturday, December 2nd, 2006

So, Hamilton it is then. Good. Now we can get on with our lives.
But I have a fear. Many fears infact, but the point is that I can’t help but worry about poor old Tyler.
Because he must have the worst job in the world.
Now don’t get me wrong, being an F1 driver is just about the most perfect thing anyone can do. I mean the job of being a young hopeful Brit at the wheel of an F1 car.

We were there before. Nigel Mansell. Damon Hill. Even Coulthard looked like he had a chance of being champion once. Then we had Jenson. And now we have Tyler.

Since Damon Hill won the Championship, being a Brit in F1 got exponentially worse. Because now they had an F1 champion for the first time since loooooong, and they were looking for the next one under every rock.
Even though Hill was a good driver, his Championship win was more because of what he drove and not how he drove. And that made him look a lot better than he actually was.

Jenson was a different story. He was being hyped up like you wouldn’t believe before he even had a chance to prove himself. He started in 2000 at Williams, a top 5 team at that time. And he absolutely did not deliver.
So they said, okay, he’s just starting this F1 thing, let’s give him some time to gel. So they did. And 3 years later his performance was better than before, but still no earth shattering things were happening. Was all this faith placed in that young man misplaced? He was definitely not the ‘new Schumacher’ as he was called when he started in F1.

It must be terrible having such high hopes and such pressure on your shoulders when you’re a young lad
just starting in F1. It must be even worse when 5 years down the line, you still have yet to grab your first race win. Granted, he did get 3rd place in the championship in 2004, but realistically he had no hope in hell of finishing any higher at that time. Not with the red guys in front winning absolutely everything, and handing everyone else their asses, race after race.

So Hungary 2006 must have been a relief. After such a long time, he finally got that ’1st win’ monkey off his back. I shall not analyze that race, because it would mainly prove that even though he won, it was hardly because he was a good driver, but rather, every other good driver failed to finish, and he just there to steal their places(See also : Olivier Panis, Monaco 1996).

But I hope to GOD that Hamilton is all he is cracked up to be. I have seen some of his F2 races and must say I am impressed. That 3-car wide move at Silverstone last year is already a classic. But then again I watched Sato race in F3 and kick everyone’s ass too, so previous results say nothing in F1.

Whether or not he will adapt to the style of F1, will have to do how he reacts to the pressure the British media is putting on him. And on top of that, he’ll always be known as ‘the first black driver in F1′, which adds even more tension. I so, so hope that he will be able to handle it all, and that he is a true racer that can surprise us, and wow the audience with his skill.

But you have to admit, his predecessors, who were all called ‘golden boys’ at their time, did not deliver. Here’s to hoping he will break the streak.

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The Y Series: We Need an F1 Channel

Saturday, November 18th, 2006

I have DirecTV. I have all the channels. Well, almost all of them anyway. There are numerous sports, news, entertainment, and movie channels. Some of them, such as the horse racing channel TVG, don’t really deserve to be on air. I mean, seriously, who can watching horses running around a track 24/7. It’s not like the horses can give post-race press conferences. They have no personalities. Don’t get me started on the jockeys. All 4’10″ and 76 lbs. of them. That’s the kind a person all men can relate too.

With that kind of low standard for having a TV channel, why isn’t there one for F1? Ok, i can understand it not being available here in the US. But, why isn’t there one at least in Europe. How much content is there on F1? There’s got to be more than enough to sustain a station. There’s probably full races on tape for probably every race since about 1970. How hard would it be to show some of the better ones? Or what about entire seasons? We all know news is slow between now and about a week before the first race. Why not replay great season. Do a race a day or something. That’ll take a couple weeks. Show seasons reviews. Do profiles on teams, drivers, tracks, etc. from past and present. Maybe even have a one hour weekly show in the offseason to keep us up to date on things. Maybe even show tests live. I know that’s a stretch, but it’s a thought.

During the season, there could be race replays, onboard race replays, and alternate angles not shown during the race. If Mr. Howard’s suggestion of recording onboards on every car for entire race was implemented, we could see onboard action of events missed during the regular broadcast. There could be a sort of reality TV show, like Speed Channel has with NBS 24/7. A TV crew could follow drivers and see inside the factories where they make the cars. They could even televise the FIA court proceeding, such as the ones we saw with Renault this year and BAR last year. There are limitless ideas.

With all of the history, personality, technology, and drama that is a part of F1, why has an F1 channel never come to fruition? The answer lies at the top: Bernie Ecclestone.

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Bernie is 76. Even in this day in age, that’s getting on in years. He was born in 1930. The Depression was barely a year old when he came around. Hell, they didn’t even have TV’s. Don’t be fooled by that cell phone, his 8 year old grandson taught him how to use it. His dabblings in media include F1.com, F1 Digital for PPV, and some of the current races. F1.com is a crock. Before he took it over, live timing was freely available. Now, you much register to view it. Also, look at the store; $60 for a plain t-shirt with a F1 logo over the heart. You’re kidding right? F1 Digital failed after he couldn’t get enough people to justify the cost. Current races are getting better, but barely. Instead of working with technology, he uses it to try and make the greatest profit at the expense of the normal viewer. He won’t do an F1 channel because it involves something all old people hate, risk. What’s the risk of the store? Sure it’s outrageously priced, but some people will buy it and that’ll make up for people like me who won’t.

We probably won’t see an F1 channel as long as Bernie is around. The initial costs to get it off the ground would be to risky in Bernie’s eyes. In addition, even if it was successful, profits wouldn’t start rolling in for several years. Bernie, frankly, can’t afford to wait that long, literally and figuratively. I hope the day comes when I can watch classic grand prixs, seasons reviews, and a documentary of Ferrari during the 1981 season. If not, I may have to find something more interesting to watch, like that interview with Barbaro when he gets out a re-hab. Time to set the TiVo.

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Posted in Op-ed, The Y Series | 6 Comments »

The Y Series: The London GP will NEVER happen

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

The center of media coverage of F1 resides mostly in Europe, and in England to be specific. As a result, we have up to the second coverage of anything remotely related to the British Grand Prix. We’ve all heard the annual calls for Silverstone to be fully revamped and secure a long term contract. Personally, I couldn’t care less if the race was at Silverstone. The track bores me, frankly. Some of my British comrades feel the GP needs to go somewhere else. The thinking probably goes something like this, “Well A1GP has Brands Hatch. BTCC has Thuxton. MotoGP and LMS have Donnington. I know! We’ll have it in London!” No. No. No. That will never happen.

That kind of optimism is fueled by open-ended comments made by the likes of Ecclestone and London mayor Ken Livingstone. After some F1 teams did a demonstration in July of 2004, he said that the success of the showcase proved London could stage a fully fledged Grand Prix very soon. Neehhhh! Wrong answer. Setting up water-filled plastic barriers on a street doesn’t mean you can host a GP. You need to: A) Get permits to close the streets (and that’s no small feat in London), B) Assemble and construct the circuit out of concrete blocks and fencing, and C) Set up stands. As a result, people probably won’t be able to go to local businesses. You think they’re gonna like that? Dream on.

Think if NASCAR wanted a street race through Times Square. Traffic is already a nightmare. Think what it would be like with a couple extra miles of closed streets. Then think of the stores. They’re gonna fight hard to make sure they don’t lose business. The amount of legal and political hurdles wouldn’t be worth it. That is why I want the British media to shut the hell up. Unless the race is held in the subway, there is never going to be a GP in London. Never. Put your efforts into something more constructive, like trying to get an overhaul for Silverstone. That’d be a start.

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British GP in trouble again? *sigh*

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

A few months ago the F1 Explainer wrote about the continuing problems faced by the BRDC’s in hosting the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Well it seems the saga continues with Bernie Ecclestone suggesting the date could be shared with the French Grand Prix.

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