This Week in Motorsport
Formula Fun!
Großer Preis von Deutschland
Round 10 (of 19)
24 July 2011

Two unprecedented things happened at the Nürburgring, neither of those things was a feat—a positive occurrence—, they were both the absence of something expected—a negative occurrence—: reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull (Renault) didn't start the race from the front row as he had every previous grand prix of the year, nor did Vettel finish first or second in race, also as he had at every previous grand prix. Much was the same as it had been: a Red Bull, that of Mark Webber, started from pole position, as a Red Bull RB7 has every single grand prix of the year; & Vettel finished fourth, continuing the streak of both Red Bull drivers finished every grand prix of the year in the points (the first ten finishing positions), the only two drivers to do so (contributing mightily to Red Bull's massive points lead in the Constructor's Championship). Nevertheless, the first ten grands prix of the year had seen Vettel win six & finish no worse than second in the other four; so, Germany marked a relatively significant change in the F1 balance of power. The Großer Preis von Deutschland was won by '08 World Champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren (Mercedes), the first man besides Vettel to win more than one grand prix in '11.

Magyar Nagydíj (Hungarian Grand Prix)
Round 11 (of 19)
31 July 2011

The order of things was to some measure restored at the Hungaroring, with Vettel starting the grand prix from pole position & finishing second. Nevertheless, Vettel was passed on track by both McLarens, those of Hamilton & '09 World Champion Jenson Button, the eventual race champion. Vettel won five of the first six grands prix of the year, but he has only one victory in the last five (finishing second in three of the grand prix he didn't win & fourth in the fourth). At both Germany & Hungary Vettel committed on-track errors, spinning out of control, though avoiding inflicting any collision damage to his RB7. There has been much celebration by Ferrari & especially by McLaren of their having closed the early season performance gap to Red Bull, & much has been made of this in the Formula One press. As a Red Bull partisan, I must draw your attention to what's going on behind the headlines. Button won the Magyar Nagydíj, but he failed to finish either of the two previous rounds of the World Championship, the British Grand Prix & the Großer Preis von Deutschland, scoring zero points. Double World Champion (in '05 & "06 with Renault) Fernando Alonso of Ferrari won the British Grand Prix, & his teammate Felipe Massa finished fifth, scoring two more points than Vettel & Webber of Red Bull managed in second & third; Alonso & Massa finished second & fifth at the Nürburgring, scoring one point more than Webber & Vettel in third & fourth. At the Hungaroring Vettel 7 Webber finished second & fifth, scoring five more points than Alonso & Massa in third & sixth. In the last three grands prix—Great Britain, Germany, & Hungary—, none of them won by Red Bull, Red Bull has widened its lead in the World Championship standings, Red Bull 88-86 Ferrari & Red Bull 88-74 McLaren. Despite all the triumphal crowing about McLaren & Ferrari having "caught up" to Red Bull, Red Bull continues to pull further & further ahead of its rivals in the Constructors' Championship. Vettel's lead for the Drivers' Championship has grown to eighty-five points, greater than at any other point in the season; in second place is Webber, not Hamilton or Button or Alonso. The rumors of Red Bull's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The next grand prix of the year won't be for nearly a month, the Belgian Grand Prix* on 28 August at the immortal Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, or simply Spa, my very favorite circuit in the world, above even the Circuit de le Sarthe around which is run the 24 Heures du Mans.

By Endurance We Conquer
I attempted to watch the last American Le Mans Series (A.L.M.S.) race, the Grand Prix of Mosport, on the espn3.com website, but suffered the same frustrations that blighted my previous experience of watching a race via espn3.com, the Long Beach race in April: espn3.com doesn't work worth a wooden nickel. The Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock demonstrated that the abridged race broadcasts on E.S.P.N. 2 are not tolerable, & twice now espn3.com has proved to be insufficient to the task. There's no other way to see the A.L.M.S. races without being in attendance at the circuits. This is what I feared when I learned the American Le Mans Series had sold its soul to the Entertainment & Sports Programming Network (Wayback Machine, scroll down to "American Le Mans Series"). Curses! I hate it when my dark mutterings of doom & gloom turn out to be right.

This is the Kobayashi Maru, this is the no-win scenario.

Code Name CHAOS
The shall not be any more "By Endurance We Conquer" posts until I can figure out some way to change the rules of the game. (Or in the unlikely event of Intercontinental Le Mans Cup/World Endurance Championship television coverage coming to these shores.) To the extremely limited extent that I comment on the A.L.M.S. those remarks will be branded "Kobayashi Maru."

I still eagerly await the day when the monster Bertuzzi is no longer a Red Wing & "The Winged Wheel" once again gives way to "Believe." I miss hockey, but it's difficult to given a tinker's damn about the N.H.L. when I can't root for the Red Wings. Maybe the E.S.P.N. would be interested in hiring the monster Bertuzzi? That sounds like a match made in Perdition.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Sleeper Agent, "Get It Daddy" via iTunes, Free Single of the Week (T.L.A.M.)

*I suspect the Belgian Grand Prix's name is rendered the English in part to avoid having to rendering it twice on all racing publications, in French for the Walloons & Dutch for the Flemings. There is no such issue with the name of the Grand Prix du Canada in bilingual Canada because the Anglophone Canadians tremble in fear of & kowtow to the Francophone Canadiens.