The unequivocally vexing practice of nurturing a thing

I feel like a chump for not writing more, especially as this season, and more importantly the next, are at full boil. Having a kid can do a number on your free time (if you do it right, ie not tempt divorce and/or bludgeoning). Keep your eyes peeled for a short series on all of the race series that may or may not come around to calling Austin a place they visit. Trust me, that'll be far more exciting than the premise might indicate. We're calling in some favors from some noted and well informed industry folks to give us some real insight into what a full calendar of racing might mean for Circuit of the Americas and Austin, from American LeMans to SCCA to karting. Suffice to say, if you enjoy the thrill of racing in any form, you have excellent reason(s) to be hopeful for the coming years.

While I'm here, howsabout that race? The one in Montreal, that is. I made some overtly optimistic prognostications during the pre-season about Button's noted but generally under appreciated capability to pilot a car further than most drivers on a set of tires. I just have to wonder if maybe Vettel's and the Red Bull's Achilles heel isn't now on full display. For several races, Vettel has been on the ragged edge by the last few laps, holding onto the eventual victory by the barest sliver of gooey rubber-like substance. Granted, this past weekend the endless parade of yellow laps erased any usable gap he might have otherwise been able to build, but to see Button go all ninja on the entire field, from last to first, was a thing of beauty. Most surprising was the way he inhaled that gap once he managed to overtake Schumacher, who was holding down an impressive second place right up to the end (I admit, I wanted to see him tough it out, but Webber did deserve that podium more, I suppose).

I did not exactly expect Vettel to blow the win the way he did, but it made perfect sense. The Red Bull devours tires, and the new Pirellis go from peanut butter to... well regular butter in a matter of a couple of corners. Unless Red Bull works to refine their stop strategy to ensure their man is in a sticky new set for the last few laps, guys like Button will be able to push and force an error. Didn't Webber figure that out in Malaysia? I just don't believe Vettel is that unflappable, based on what happened this past Sunday. It's hard to say if that'll be a recurring theme... Vettel on tired tires, hard charging challenger on fresher rubber cuts through the gap to force him to defend, and ultimately overwhelm his tires right at the end.

Technically speaking, Vettel's on some mutant level in terms of car control and and builds such an insurmountable lead that he can often cruise and not stress his tires until he needs to. The challengers eat up theirs just trying to get close and don't have enough left to successfully overtake. But in sort of seems like there's an exploit here, if you're in position to take it. That car gets really loose at the end. NASCAR loose. It's like the final battle in Metroid, you know? If you can manage to get in that one spot in the corner, you can just blast away at Mother Brain, free and clear. You know, just as an analogy everyone should be able to get. 

Finally, get out there and continue to support COTA and F1 with facts. You know, statements that are verifiable and pertinent. In all honesty, those oposed to the entire endeavor are generally relying on biased and ill-informed (or flat out un-informed... OK, total lies) to support their position. Educate yourself on the METF (for starters, go here). Talk to the City Council. Write letters. Show your support.

Propagate the FACTS. How's that for a novel approach to politics?

Conning your friends and loved ones into seeing a great film (about Formula One)

Image Courtesy Working Title FilmsJalopnik has posted a handy dandy guide to convincing others, who probably don't maintain the sort of fevered emotions about racing that we do, that they should go and see Senna. We here at The Austin GP are ardent supporters of this film, not just because it's about the demigod Ayrton Senna, but because it is quite simply a great film. You should go see it at any and every opportunity, then send Asif and Manish an email thanking them for doing the impossible - making the esoteric accessible and captivating to the average person.

Be sure to check out the interview with Asif following Senna's premiere at SXSW.

Anyway, as promised, here's the link to Justin Hyde's three-point methodology for tricking others into doing what they ought to, anyway... go out and see Senna in theaters right now.

DNQ - I Need a Hero

The United States has produced exactly two Formula One World Champion drivers, the last in 1978. That's not technically true - Mario Andretti is a citizen, but originally an immigrant from Italy.  Sooo not exactly "produced" per se... when you really get down to brass tacks, Phil Hill is our lone born and bred F1 champ'een, all the way back in 1961 (and also partner to Bruce McLaren in the stupefyingly awesome Ford GT40 of the late 60s, recounted in the book Go Like Hell, which you should find and read ASAP).

With the Circus coming to Austin next year (and does saying that out loud still blow your mind, or what), who do we have to root for? Aside from the potential hotshot Mexican rookie Sergio Perez driving for Sauber, there's not even a Canadian in the field. The last American behind the "wheel"  of an F1 car was Scott Speed from 2005-2007, who's now going roundy-round in the NASCAR Nationwide feeder series.

Photo courtesy Team Lotus

We need a hero (I encourage opening this link and at least letting it play in the background as you continue to read, but to try not thinking about Kevin Bacon). Or at least a hero in hero training.

I don't know a whole lot about Alexander Rossi just yet, aside from the fact he's 19 years old, is originally from California, is the only American to hold a valid FIA Super License, which is required for competition in Formula One, and has just been named to the Team Lotus driver development program. That last part is pretty significant.

 

Photo courtesy www.alexanderrossi.comFormula One teams maintain driver development programs as more or less farm teams for promising young talent. The program gives the young drivers the chance to have access to machinery, trainers, other drivers, and all the accoutrement of an F1 driver, while still competing in races (in Rossi's case, it's GP3). It's an essential stepping-stone to land one of the most coveted seats on all of racingdom. He's one of seven in the program, ostensibly vying for one of three currently occupied seats.

Is the kid our only hope? He certainly shows promise. A cursory review of his Wikipedia page reveals a not unimpressive competitive history dating back to 2005 (meaning he was 13 when he began putting in the hot laps). He was reportedly tapped to be one of the drivers for the aborted US F1 team last season. He also has a good name, which considering Scott Speed's track record, might not be such an obvious asset, but he presently lives in Italy, nullifying any potential cosmically mandated surname related tomfoolery. But he has loads of seat time in open wheeled cars, a solid win percentage and an apparent desire to be an F1 driver - not just a professional one. You could be a professional driver anywhere, but the fact this kid is committed to F1 is reason to be hopeful. 

Here's the most basic, elemental formula for rejuvenated fandom for Formula One in the United States - American Driver + American Race = Interest (Revenue). The teams also know that having a local native in the cockpit drums up revenues and sponsorships, banking on the cumulative media coverage of holding the first F1 race in the United States in five years and also having the first American driver in just as long. No one is decreeing yet that Rossi will have a drive in 2012, but given the musical chairs nature of backmarker rosters (and sadly, team Lotus is still very much a backmarker, albeit an improving one), you should not be too surprised to see him driving at least the one race. 

In the short term at least, Rossi's placement on the development team means whenever there's coverage of F1 on these shores, he'll be talked about. There will be footage of his last GP3 race or his testing with Lotus, discussions about his development or potential. It'll mean there's one more connection between the American audience and the sport. It's not panacea for the many obstacles that remain in terms of long-term success, but it's definitely a better starting place than previously. This is an exceptionally good thing. 

But let's hope bigger. Let's hope the kid finds speed and victories this year, and curries favor with the Team Lotus bosses or otherwise suitably impresses one of the other teams, and ends up a full-time driver in 2012. Then we take the next logical, if hopeful step... with the race in Austin for the next 10 years at least, maybe we will begin to see more young kids, from karting aces to autocross wizards, begin to show some interest in the fine art of slicing an earthbound fighter plane through the corners and have access to the resources to support that ambition.

Maybe it'll be my kid. 

 

If you want to win, employ a Finn

So goes the saying, and so goes Kimi. I think I can speak for all race fans here, this should be interesting.

This is my favorite write-up thus far.

Wonder what Kimi would look like with a beard...

DNQ - Race Recap and other tragedies

One down...

More informed race analysis is all over the Interwebs by the point, so I'm just going to share a few observations from the perspective of a non-obsessed fan (not to say that I'm not a freakish F1 fan, just not to the extent of a true anorak, to pretentiously steal some Brit-speak).

Speed Channel, you suck. For years, I've gotten up Sunday morning, made some breakfast, read some news, then around 11 am or so, switched over to the race.  Comfort breeds complacency, because I didn't bother to reschedule the recording of the new season in my DVR. Doing so would have revealed there would be no rebroadcast of the race on Sunday morning. Instead, I fell asleep on the couch Saturday night watching Foo Fighters on Austin City Limits, woke up close to 2 am, and decided I might want to program the DVR just in case the rebroadcast started early the next morning. Ummm... Did the DVD revert to the previous month again? *whack the remote* Nope. No race Sunday morning. The cherry on top was that there were about four laps left in the race, being shown live. I caved and watched, but my glorious plan for Sunday morning was blown to hell. I ended up spending the day cutting rust out of an Alfa Romeo and grumbling. 

Thanks to the man above for torrents, I've pieced it together. So, did anything interesting happen at Albert Park? Talk amongst yourselves.

Aside from NASCAR pre-emption, how amazing was it to see a John Player liveried Lotus- Renault on the grid and on the podium? Any while we're in a rhetorical frame of mind, everyone seemed to ask, "What could Kubica have done with that car?", but it seemed like few were asking, "What the hell happened to Petrov over the winter?" 'Cause he looked awesome out there. Totally in control of his race. Amazing that he was driving for his job last season. Heidfeld though... Bruno Senna deserves a chance in a good car. Give him the seat. Because the universe wants it.

McLaren has speed!

Sauber. Ridiculous disqualification aside, what a showing! I've been a fan of Kobayashi ever since his first race in Brazil '09, relegating Button to a waggling tail for several chaotic laps. I love that guy. Formula 1 needs more insanity. But Sergio Perez! That kid is true talent. Where did he come from? Aside from Mexico. And the Ferrari Driving Academy.

That said, does anyone else think Alonso might have a new Spanish-speaking teammate before too long? Massa is Cougar. I hate it for him, but he's lost the edge.

Speaking of dulled edges, I just get the feeling the 2011 season might be the last hurrah for Schumacher and Barrichello. Schumacher says he's only driving to win, but honestly - he can't. I know that somewhat contradicts what I said previously, and while I think he can be competitive and score points, I don't think he has a snowball's chance of winning any races. 

Vettel and Hamilton are probably among the best drivers to grace the grid in decades. No one driver is going to be routinely beating either of them for a long, long time. Maybe Alonso, although the Ferrari didn't seem to have the pace of the Red Bull once the show was actually on. Webber and Button are great drivers (if not for an as-of-yet disclosed problem and a questionable ruling and subsequent drive-though respectively, either might have ended up on podium), and in all honestly my two favorites. But when you ride in-car with Vettel and Hamilton, it seems to perfectly effortless. Supernatural even. Watching the way they control their cars, it seems like they've been bred to do this. Everyone has been awaiting the new Schu'. It might just be Sebastian Vettel.

One more open-ended discussion for you. Is there any point to comparing modern drivers to the heroes of the past? Could you argue Vettel is the new Schumacher in any way other than the fact he dominates? Or that Hamilton is the Senna reincarnated? Or Button is our generation's Jim Clark? To me, and take this relatively uninformed opinion for what it's worth, it seems aside from the fact they're driving open-wheeled cars on road circuits in a sport called Formula 1, it's as different as playing Combat on an Atari 2600 and Call of Duty on an Xbox 360. Not that one is necessarily harder than the other, they just require vastly different skill sets to be successful. Relatable to any job these days, I suppose, but uncanny skills with the wheel and pedals really aren't good enough, anymore.

Oh, and in case you're curious, rebroadcast is now on Monday morning. Will that be for every race? Find out in two weeks at Malaysia. Or go here.