F1: Gee, Ya Don’t Say!
With the start of the 2007 Formula One season a short 5 days away the Half-Vast Staff™ of Full Throttle thought it would be appropriate to start a “stating the obvious file.”
Things are said that often go without saying (well duh!) and mostly shouldn’t be, or are highly noticeable without attention being drawn to the subject matter will be included in this mostly nonsensical screed.
First up is Mark Webber who traded in his Williams livery (winner of nine Constructor’s titles) to drive alongside of David Coulthard at Red Bull (winner of nadda) this season. Webber lead briefly in Australia in 2006 before his Williams blew up. Here is Webber on his chances for this year at Albert Park: “Obviously blowing up in the lead was not nice, but it was nice to be up there competing at the front.”
“I think (Red Bull is) going to have trouble repeating that this year.”
Webber’s honesty should count for something, one point at least. Which is one more than Red Bull will have come Monday morning. But all may not be lost for Red Bull, Ron Walker may have the answer that would allow for Red Bull to slip by its speedier rivals, in the dark.
The undercard for Australian GP has been called into question. V8 Supercar legend John Bowe has described the program for the Australian Grand Prix this weekend as the worst ever:
What a pack of hypocrites! For as long as I can remember the V8 drivers have bitched about driving as the support card for the Australian GP. First they complained that they were treated as second class citizens by F1, then they complained about a crowded paddock. Many, OPENLY, claimed that they were only there at the behest of the sponsors who didn’t want to miss out on the huge TV figures. Many times (I’m a little hazy here) it was not a point scoring round & they didn’t even bring the latest car, but rather, last years model.They complained that it got in the way of the existing schedule & was a expensive distraction, particularly if a team suffered a expensive rebuild after a shunt with the concrete, hence the trend for bringing the previous model car.
If Courtney wants to complain fair enough, he is new to the series & may have wanted to drive in front of the home crowd, BUT, for Skaif & Bowe to be stating that they are disappointed - considering their previous stance - is hypocritical.I particularly remember Ingall one year being open in his criticism of participating. Further, they generally behave like a bunch of spoilt children in their dealings with the media at the GP as the spot light falls on the F1 drivers. Now Bowe is on his last season & wants to take a final bow, go read up on your & your colleagues history John.
Phew, glad I got that off my chest, I feel better now.
You know, when I wrote this I had a far away memory of Skaif, Ambrose and the like saying they brought year old cars to the F1 undercard.
Be damned if I could find anything still online about it.