You have no idea Brissy Boy…

Are you serious Chris?

Nobody cares about F1. Right… Just found this after 30 seconds of searching; it’s a list of the most watched sporting events of 2004.

1 Football: Euro 2004 final Portugal v Greece 153 million
2 Olympic Games: opening ceremony 127 million
3 Olympic Games: closing ceremony 96 million
4 American football: Super Bowl 95 million
5 Olympic Games: men’s 100m metres 87 million
6 Olympic Games: men’s 200m freestyle swimming 66 million
7 Formula one: Monaco grand prix 59 million
8 Football: Champions League final Porto v Monaco 56 million
9 Basketball: NBA finals 25 million
10= Tennis: Wimbledon women’s singles final 21 million
10= Tennis: Wimbledon men’s singles final 21 million
12 Cycling: Tour de France final stage 16 million
13= Football: FA Cup final Millwall v Man Utd 9 million
13= Horseracing: Grand National 9 million
15 Rowing: University Boat Race 5 million

Number 7 was just a single grand prix, albeit the Monaco GP. Look at some of the events above. Four out of the six were at the Olympic games, which is held only once every four years. The other two events were both football finals, which are obviously only held just once a year. Monaco, on the other hand, was just another one out of eighteen races for the year. It was not a final or of any greater significance than any other race.

By saying that no one cares about F1, then I guess no one cares about the NBA finals, Wimbledon finals, Tour de France etc etc.

I’ve read in numerous sources that F1 is the most watched sport on the planet besides the Olympic Games and the World Cup.

So anyway Chris, tell me more about these “unevolved nations” that will be the only ones to “ever have interest in such buffoonery”? I assume you would include countries like France and Germany in that list? Japan too? Last time I checked they were fairly well evolved nations, and it would be fair to say that F1, and motorsport in general, are extremely popular sports in each of those countries.

I just don’t understand your comment. It’s ridiculous…

@David Lord

“it’s doubtful he will ever win another GP and drive better than last night”

Are you saying he’ll never win another race, or will never drive better than yesterday? Or a combination of both? I don’t quite follow…

But anyway, yes it was certainly a great race, one of the best over the last season or two. I had to put myself back into Jaguar/Williams mode and just hope for a top ten result for Mark (those were the days!) but his drive to 3rd was mega. It was the first race for a while where I’ve yelled at the TV! 🙂

I hate to be the one to bring it up, but it has to be said… Of course Webber’s drive was mega, but it had a lot to do with tyres. Anyone who thinks Mark could have made up those positions using the same tyres that Seb, Lewis and Jenson etc had are kidding themselves. Mark’s quali mix-up meant that he had better tyres than virtually everyone else in front of him, and that’s what allowed him to make such amazing progress in the second half of the race.

But that said, it still takes great skill and determination to get past that many people without incident. As they say, catching people is the easy part, but getting past them is an entirely different matter.

Fantastic race overall and a mega drive from Mark.

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

I’m surprised that no one else has used this quote from Ernest Hemmingway.

Back in Hemingway’s day, grand prix drivers turned up to every race knowing there was a decent chance they would be killed. But these legends were so fiercely competitive that they would risk everything to beat the next man.

Another quote, this one from double world champion Alberto Ascari, went like this:

“I never want my children to become too fond of me because one day I might not come back and they will suffer less if I don’t come back.”

Days after saying that, Ascari was dead.

In how many other sports are the competitors so fiercely competitive that they will put their lives on the line week in week out? Grand prix racing is a lot safer these days, but drivers are still killed and seriously injured in various forms of racing around the world every year.

To say that racing is not a sport is to disrespect the fallen legends of our glorious sport’s past.

But getting away from the romantic side of things, professional racing drivers are no different to any other sportspeople.

Take someone like Mark Webber for example. He trains all week to keep his fitness at a point where his body can handle massive amounts of stress and g-force whilst keeping his mind sharp enough to make crucial decisions at 300kph. He spends hours in the simulator practicing his technique, and every second weekend or so he turns up and puts 100% effort into doing the best job for his team and his fans. How is that any different to an NRL or AFL player?

Motor racing is just as much a sport as rugby league, cricket or AFL, and to say anything different shows pure ignorance and a lack of understanding and appreciation for sporting competition. I really do feel sorry for some of you…

I know, it sounded strange as I typed it too! I guess what I’m saying is that my heart says 100% Webber but my head says 49% Webber 51% Alonso.

“What rubbish nationality had nothing to do with it”

Ian, I think what Tristan is saying is that if you’re an Australian fan you’ll think Webber was in the right, and if you’re an English fan you’ll think Lewis was in the right. Correct me if I’m wrong Tristan.

But getting back to the point, Alonso is definitely a worry for us Webber fans at the moment! Alonso has always been my number two behind Webber, so generally I would be stoked for him to win another championship, but not if Webber follows him in second place!

Looking at the final four races, the Red Bull is expected to be strongest in Japan, Korea is unknown for everyone, Webber won the last Brazilian grand prix and finished second in Abu Dhabi. So things are looking pretty good, and surely no one doubts Webber’s mental strength despite the fact that he’s never before been in the position of fighting for an F1 championship.

I’m still 100% confident that Webber can and will win the championship. But if I was forced to put my life savings on one driver, I’m afraid to say it would be Alonso…

Definitely a great result for Webber. Most of the press had written off Red Bull’s chances at Spa, with McLaren tipped to be the farourites. Pole for Webber on Saturday wasn’t really reflective of their true pace, it was more a case of perfect timing, but that’s all a part of F1 qualifying so it was no less deserved.

Second place alone would have been reason enough to celebrate for Webber, but with championship rivals Vettel, Alonso and Button all failing to score points, it was a bloody fantastic result!

As for Vettel, I have no doubt he’ll be world champion one day, assuming he sticks with decent teams, but he has a long way to go before he can put a whole championship together. I liked him in the early days, even after he punted Webber out of 2nd place in Japan a few seasons back, but this year I’ve lost a tonne of respect for him.

Let’s get Monza out of the way, another track that shouldn’t suit the Red Bull, then Webber can romp home through the fly-away races and finish up the season as Australia’s third F1 world champ!

PS. Better not jinx it… 🙂

I’m not an expert on NRL contracts, but I do know a thing or two about the average contract in business. If Inglis had a contract for $600k (or whatever) with Melbourne for next year, and provided that no release clause has been triggered, then they are legally obliged to pay him. They can’t just terminate his contract, and without the consent of Inglis they can’t reduce his pay.

So faced with the option of having to pay $600k next year for a player they couldn’t afford, or being able to pay out a far lower amount such as $50k to subsidise a contract elsewhere, the decision to subsidise the Inglis / Broncos contract seems completely straightforward.

And if you need an example, take a look at the Ferrari / Kimi Raikkonen situation in F1 last year. Ferrari wanted to get rid of Kimi to make way for Fernando Alonso, but Kimi still had a contract in place for around $50m to race in 2010. As no release clause had been triggered, the only way Ferrari could get rid of Kimi was to pay him his $50m for 2010 and send him on holidays. I think the final payout was a bit less than $50m, but still a very substantial amount.

When you look at it from a business perspective, there is nothing fishy about the Storm subsidising the contract. The only thing that could be seen as suspect is the NRL’s decision to allow the subsidy payment under the secondary cap, but I suspect this is nothing more than an act of compassion towards a club going through huge turmoil.

“It’s true that Formula One is now no longer about the competition but about the economic benefits to the economy’s that host this farcical racing series.”

What an absurd comment to make. Try telling the drivers that they’re racing for nothing but the economic benefit of others.

Although we’ve been very lucky with serious injuries and deaths for the last fifteen years or so, make no mistake that these guys risk their lives every weekend, whether it’s for victory, a single point, or just to finish ahead of your team mate for 21st place instead of 22nd.

What about the mechanics who work until 1am every grand prix weekend – or all nighters if the driver has binned the car? Do you think they’re working their arses off just to make Bernie and CVC a little richer? Not a chance.

There is only one reason why the drivers and mechanics do what they do – competition. Whether it’s one manufacturer beating another, one driver beating another, or one pit crew beating another, it’s all about competition.

Competition is what F1 always has been about, and what it will continue to be about.

Long live grand prix racing.

A full blown two-tier competition sounds fantastic, but we’re probably not ready for it yet. I would love to see a way for some of the Qld Cup teams to play against the big boys of the NRL though.

Sunday nights just keep getting better. Such a far cry from the old days (2006 in particular) when Sunday nights would pretty much guarantee disappointment!

I just hope that Mark can sustain the momentum now and remain in contention during the final rounds. Or better yet, have the championship stitched up by then. 🙂

“Webber overtook Vettel in the closing laps for his second top-three finish of the season after Vettel had finally passed Felipe Massa with four laps remaining following a battle between the two drivers throughout the 66-lap race.”

I’m not sure that the author actually watched the race… Webber didn’t pass Vettel in the closing laps, he leapfrogged him during the pitstops, certainly not “after” Vettel had passed Massa. By the time Vettel passed Massa, Webber was hounding Barrichello for second.

Either way, I’m just happy that Webber finally has a quick and reliable car that is worthy of his talent! 🙂

Eljay, rather than just dismissing motorsport as an obsolete earth-destroying sport, why not look to the benefits that motorsport can bring? It’s true that over the last decade or so motorsport hasn’t contributed much to road car development, but if you look back to the past, you will see that many major safety and efficiency improvements have come directly from motorsport.

This year F1 has introduced KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). Whilst it currently in its very early development, it’s not unreasonable to expect this technology will make its way into road car development sometime in the near future.

V8 Supercars are doing their bit by moving to an 85% ethanol blend fuel (as mentioned above) which should help to show Australians that ethanol fuel is a legitimate – race proven – alternative.

Motorsport may be one that uses a lot of fossil fuel, but it can also be one that helps to improve motoring in general from not only a technical perspective, but also have an impact on people’s perceptions of alternative fuels and energy sources.

Well it’s official – Ross Brawn is now the 100% owner of the team and they’ll be racing in Melbourne with Button and Barrichello as the drivers, powered by Mercedes engines and named Brawn GP.

Here’s a good comparison: http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo-large.php/dir/2009bmw1/image/l_p90044760-4

www.autosport.com has a fantastic gallery. Go to the home page and scroll down to the bottom.

Colin, I know what you mean about things being different in the UK, or Europe in general for that matter. I lived in London during the 2002 season, and the F1 coverage was a world away from what we have in Australia. That was also the year in which Sky had F1 Digital Interactive – absolutely awesome! It wasn’t cheap, but when the cost was split between three F1-mad Aussies it was a small price to pay.

I think the thing with F1 is that you can’t really be a fan just by watching the races, because yes you probably will fall asleep! To really get into F1 you need to understand the little rules and strategies, but more importantly you need to know the drivers, the personalities and the rivalries between the drivers and teams. The races are much more exciting that way, well at least they are for tragics like me! 🙂