Thursday Thoughts: Team Launches

Well, Thursday is upon us again which means it is time again for some Thursday Thoughts. This weeks question is:

Should F1 teams launch 2010 cars in a single launch event?

I am of opinion that this would be a very good idea. A whole weekend where all 13 teams get together to unveil their cars at a combined event would be fantastic. Firstly, yes, it would definitely save money. For all the cost cutting that’s going on, this would be a very simple way to save a little more without impacting on the racing at all. Additionally, with all the teams in attendance there would be more room for sponsor events along with increased with publicity which can only be good for the sport, right? James Allen suggests that an event like this could see less publicity for the smaller teams and that the event would be dominated by Ferrari and McLaren but I beg to differ. Firstly, although Ferrari and McLaren remain the ‘big two’ of F1, I think that with the inclusion of Mercedes GP (and to his credit this hadn’t happened when JA posted that) and with Red Bull emerging as a force in F1 people will definitely be interested in more than two teams. Also, many people (myself included) will be interested to see what the brand new teams can come up with and how competitive (or how uncompetitive?) they will be. All the smaller teams in F1 should be able to feed off of this publicity.

As for whether it will happen, well, that depends on whether Ferrari and McLaren and possibly Mercedes want to share their publicity with the smaller teams. In having the combined launch, it would serve as a show of strength for FOTA with the new teams to start the new season, but as I said, could steal some of the thunder of the larger teams. I doubt it though, I think that the bigger teams will still be able to get all the publicity they need.

This time last year, both Toyota and BMW had announced the launch date of their 2009 cars, but so far this year we’ve heard nothing. Does that mean the group launch might be on or is it that the teams are a bit more behind this year?

I don’t think we can conclude that it is definitely happening just from this. I mean, Toyota and BMW are no longer here, perhaps they were just the most organised of the teams? Or the two that needed to announce it early for a bit of publicity that they wouldn’t usually get, particularly in the case of Toyota?

But yes, personally I would love to see an event like this happen, but as for whether it will, we’ll just have to wait and see I guess.

Thursday Thoughts – New Presidents

Despite the fact that almost 100% of my readership comes from Sidepodcast (well, at least 100% of my comments do) I’m going to explain the concept anyway. Every Thursday a topic is published for bloggers to share their thoughts on. This week the topic is who should be the next president of FOTA in the wake of Luca di Montezemolo’s announcement that he doesn’t want to do it anymore. Additionally, with the withdrawal of Toyota from F1, John Howett, the current vice-President ain’t going to be getting the top job. In my mind there are two people who stand out as potential replacements. Ross Brawn and Frank Williams.

Firstly, to Ross Brawn. Brawn is currently the Head of the Technical Regulations FOTA working group and for good reason. Brawn is one of the best engineers in F1, and also one of the most respected team principals. Ross Brawn would act in a manner that was beneficial to the sport would have the backing from the FIA. With technical regulation being a major issue in F1, he also has invaluable expertise in this field.

Sir Frank Williams needs no introduction. He is the longest serving team principal in F1 and any action he takes would undoubtedly be in the best interests of the individual teams and of F1 as a whole. Despite the fact that Williams F1 were kicked out of FOTA for four months during the 2009 season, Frank Williams still remains a solid choice as President of FOTA. Additionally, with Williams F1 siding with the FIA and CVC, having Frank Williams as FOTA President may see the FIA take more of FOTA’s wishes and requests on board.

I would have no qualms seeing either Ross Brawn or Sir Frank Williams becoming the next FOTA Chairman.

Kimi Räikkönen: A Tribute

Kimi Räikkönen has long been one of my favourite sportsmen. His tell it like is attitude along with his considerable racing talent meant that he was good to have both on and off the race-track. But not everybody saw Räikkönen in this same light. Many commentators (both professional and ‘couch-commentators’ like you and I) have criticised him for his lack of commitment and enthusiasm for the sport, most notably his former boss in Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo. The news broken today that Kimi “Iceman” Räikkönen will not be racing in F1 in 2010 was not completely unexpected, but it was still nevertheless a shock to many. And despite his critics, the one-time World Champion and two-time runner-up will be sorely missed in the world of Formula 1. With that, I have decided to compile a collection of videos that will make up Kimi Räikkönen: A Tribute.

To start, a clip from a couple of years ago. Kimi telling it exactly like it is, but also some very quick thinking from Mr Brundle.

Apologies that I could not find English commentary for this next clip, but we all remember it. From this years Malaysian GP, when everyone else was out on the grid getting soaked, Kimi was…

…eating an ice cream!

And Kimi winning the 2007 World Driver Championship.

The Press Conference after winning the Championship. Just look at the joy on his face, the overflowing emotion in his voice!

And to cap off, his laugh.

The Off Season, Transfers and Jenson Button

So, the season is over, everyone can go home, relax, have a nice quiet drink and forget about sport for a while. Right? I think not. There are times when I find the off-season to be more interesting than the regular season itself, especially when it comes to football. I mean, the season goes for 7-9 months in most cases, and its very easy to lose track of it and miss a couple of matches, particularly when you are trying to follow the European leagues from here in Australia and the matches are on in the middle of the night. But come the off-season, I’m checking the news websites every morning to see who has said what, who has gone where and whether Ronaldo has finally signed for Real Madrid yet. I know that I was not the only one that was getting very bored of all that over the last two summers. And that’s the beauty of the internet. That we can access all that information so easily from anywhere in the world. But why am I talking about this? We are only halfway through the current season and the talk is not about who is moving where (well, mostly) but of whether Arsenal can win the Premier League, if Valencia can clear their debt without losing their best players, of whether Sydney will be able to continue their good form after the international break and of whether England have any strength in depth at all.

No, what I’m really here to talk about is a different off-season. One that is generally much quieter than that of the World Game. But not this year. With only 20-something sportsmen competing in Formula One each season, less than in each single football team, the potential for transfers and speculation is infinitely less than the football world. But this year they have managed to create stories that rival the Ronaldo transfer saga for size and the main one today was the news that world-champion Jenson Button left Brawn Mercedes GP to join fellow Brit and fellow world-champion Lewis Hamilton at F1 giants McLaren. Now there have been some big moves this year already with Fernando Alonso moving to Ferrari and veteran Rubens Barrichello moving to veteran team Williams but Button’s move to McLaren is undoubtedly going to be the most talked about.

But has Jenson Button made the right move? I don’t think so. Firstly there are the comparisons between Button’s move to McLaren and Alonso’s after he won his second World Championship with Renault a couple of years ago. Alonso found Hamilton hard to work with and now, with Hamilton a clear number one driver at McLaren, Button may find himself playing second fiddle to Hamilton, something he may not be so keen on doing after his season at Brawn. But I think most importantly Button has thrown away a chance to win back-to-back World Championships. There is no reason to suggest that Mercedes and Ross Brawn won’t make a car capable of winning the Championship and whilst McLaren are almost certain to be competitive next year, there is no reason to suggest that Button is a better driver than Hamilton or will be able to get the better of Hamilton over the course of the season. So, whilst next season may see four teams competing for the Championship in Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull, I don’t think Button will be one of the drivers competing for the title. Massa? Yes. Hamilton? Yes. Alonso? Yes. Vettel? Yes. Rosberg? Potentially. Webber? Potentially. Button? No.