No. CLIX - The Bugatti Veyron.
Bonus: Pur Sang, Sang Noir, & Sang Bleu.
This Week in Motorsport
Monaco! Eternal Monaco! The Grand Prix de Monaco! As was said a thousand times during today's broadcast on Speed, and yet still not said too often, "Monaco is the grandest grand prix of them all." Before I meet my demise, I will be in the Principality for the Grand Prix de Monaco and see it all the glamor and spectacle with my own eyes.
For the second consecutive round of the World Championship, Mark Webber of Red Bull was untouchable, invincible. At both Spain and Monaco, Webber finished first in qualifying to start the grand prix from the pole position and lead every lap on the way to two dominating victories. For whatever reason, Webber has been on fire since the beginning of the European part of the schedule; 'twas another story entirely during the first four flyaway races. Webber finished eighth and ninth at Bahrain and Australia, his home grand prix, while mechanical failures were all that kept his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel from two dominant start-to-finish victories. Webber finished second when Vettel finally won at Malaysia, but then when both Red Bulls struggled at China Webber finished eighth to Vettel's sixth. Mark Webber through six rounds of the 2010 World Championship: 8th, 9th, 2nd, 8th, 1st, 1st.
Making his win today all the more impressive were the multiple deployments of the safety car. Whenever there is a heavy shunt, the safety car is deployed to slow traffic down; it picks up the race leader and the field bunches up behind. Each time the safety car came out, Vettel (in second place) and Renault's Robert Kubica (third) would close up with Webber and be planted firmly on his tail when the track again "went green" (go, man, go). Yet each time Webber would fly out ahead, leaving Vettel and Kubica to eat his dust. Without the multiple safety car interludes, Webber might well have opening up a twenty-five or thirty second gap over his second-pace teammate Vettel, which is amazing considering that it only takes 1:15-1:20 to complete a circuit of the Circuit de Monaco.
In the end, it was a Red Bull one-two, the second of the year, Webber victorious and Vettel second after starting third and making a brilliant start to pass Renault's Kubica at the start (and spending the whole of the grand prix with the Pole nipping at his heels, looking for any opportunity to reclaim the lost spot). Kubica finished third, meaning that Renault-powered cars occupied all three places on the podium. Well, "podium," since at Monaco there isn't a traditional podium, instead the winner parks his racing car in front of the royal box and is handed his prize by His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco. And Felipa Massa of Ferrari finished fourth, leaving McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in fifth place as the highest-placing Mercedes-engined car. Take that, you Kraut bastards!
I cannot wait to hear from The Guy and the California Dreamer, to learn their impressions of their first (and, 'tis hoped, not last) Formula One grand prix. (If either of you would care to write up a few lines, please either leave them in the comments or email them to me & I'll be happy to post them on The Secret Base proper. Thank you.)
Formula fun!
The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Michael Giacchino, "Grand Ol' Prix" from Speed Racer: Original Motion Picture Score (T.L.A.M.)
4 comments:
First the negative, then the positive. I wouldn't say that Monaco has totally sold me on F1 yet. It was interesting, and I watched the whole thing (sometimes while reading comics or playing video games), but at no point did I feel that I couldn't turn it off.
However, there are times that I'll feel the same way about watching the Tigers. I guess it depends on mood.
Now the positive. It is really exciting when a driver takes the briefest of opportunities to pass someone. As they pointed out at the beginning, the track is 14 paces wide. That is not very wide at all, and there are some very sick turns. And like you said, that Safety Car doesn't make it easy for the leader. It's like the blue shell, for anyone that catches that reference. That was also exciting.
I feel like I could nurture a fandom. Maybe I'll watch the next available race. Maybe I'll root for Mark Webber, because he was the first driver I watched win (Or dominated, as was the case.) I think Red Bull is disgusting, but all the crap they do besides making a shitty drink is pretty cool (flugtag, soapbox derby racing, etc.) It would have helped his case if he would have bothered to come from behind, because that always seems to work on me. But he was busy staying ahead of everyone the whole time, and I can't hold that against him.
I'll be traveling May 30th, so I probably won't watch Istanbul. We'll have to see about Montreal.
(Feel free to transcribe this as a post).
Happy to oblige with some comments when I return from my morning errands...
Later that same day:
http://brendagiguere.blogspot.com
Tomorrow, my thoughts on the Grand Prix de Monaco.
b
Rather than view actual live coverage, I ended up cobbling together a viewing experience of Sunday's race online.
I thought it was great. The excitement was contagious. I can definitely see the appeal, but I'd be less than honest if I didn't admit if I ever had the chance to go in person, I'd enjoy the racing scene at Monaco largely for all the wrong reasons, seeing as I know next to nothing about racing itself, but enjoy all the glam.
Rather than go into the whole thing cold, I did a bit of research the day before the big race. The official video edits of previous races only encouraged those elements I was already predisposed to appreciate: the anticipation, the glamorous setting, the international jet-set ambience and its James Bond feeling. The first video I watched at the F1 site even opened with a fashion show.
Anyway, to bring my rambling message to a close: Yes, I can see the appeal; I need to learn more about it.
It seems worth more than a passing nod. Thank you for sparking my interest in Motorsport!
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