Podium or Pits is Badger's weekly guide to what's hot and what's not in F1. Watch out for Flavio Briatore, Jensational news and other such fripperies...
What a fine figure of a man... World © Sutton
Rejoice! Flav's back - Now, while POP isn't a great lover of the serial Italian playboy business mogul, we do enjoy his sheer and utter nuttiness.
Those who follow the Flav closely (yes, that's right, the Flav) might know of his involvement with an English football club, Queens Park Rangers, until recently. It now transpires (well, three weeks ago, but go with us) that, while he was there, he allowed a documentary team to follow him around.
It's brilliantly awful and, let's just say that if he ran his Renault team anything like he ran QPR, we can only imagine what went on behind the scenes.
How to set up an F1 race - there's a Grand Prix coming to India don'tcha know? The Times of India are getting on board and have published an interesting article about what it takes to set up and run a successful race. POP thinks not giving control to the people who set up the Commonwealth Games is probably a very good place to start.
Yes, the article is a bit basic and yes, you'll probably feel like you're being talked down to slightly, but it's well worth a read, if only to understand the huge logistical operation that goes into putting on a race.
I'm sorry, what? Let's all hope this isn't true. Pretty please. Pretty pretty please. With our Badger mascot on top.
Jensational!! - That's right folks, Jenson has only gone and signed a new 'multi-year deal' with McLaren. In honour of the previous version of POP who, it must be said, never missed an opportunity to publish ridiculously massive photos of him, feast your eyes on the below.
Jenson catches a glance at his first wage slip... World © Sutton
Everyone loves stats. Right? The chaps at Carbuzz have had a go at trying to pin down what F1 world champions have in common. They've produced what can only be described as screenshots of a series of Powerpoint slides and, in a truly revolutionary move, have put them on the internet. All together now...oooOOOOooo.
Taken as a whole, it's fine. Nothing too revolutionary, but worth a quick scan.
However, POP does have a couple of points: first of all, we think it's a good idea when you've created something about F1 stats to demonstrate that you know a fairly vital stat: how long F1's been around. Is it 60 years (at the top) or 50 years (at the bottom)? Also, if you're going to call a category "had wealthy parents?" (quite apart from asking how on earth they know) it might be good idea to include a breakdown of what actually constitutes a wealthy parent. Jimmy von Weeks was trying to explain something about the F3 and British F3 stats, but POP was thinking about pot plants and hummus at the time. Sorry.
It would make sense to have Valencia replace Barcelona. It is the more modern track (s***), and a Spaniard is no longer the sport's big draw, so 2 GP's in the country isn't viable. We could be heading for a German GP and a Luxembourg GP (Nurburgring) again.
Which is fine by me, because both Spanish tracks together aren't as good as either of the German tracks alone. Though choosing Valencia over Barcelona is less fine.
Wealthy parents mean nothing if they're not willing to spend their wealth on their kids' endeavours! Some drivers weren't poor, but still had to make their own way through the sport.
Hello Dave! What's the deal with Jerez these days? Can't they drop the Valencia street circuit and Catalunya, and reinstate Jerez for racing again, and not just for testing? In an ideal world, they need to build a completely new circuit (without Tilke designing it) and start afresh. I agree with your comparisons of the Spanish tracks to the German ones.
Jerez is lined with gravel traps which modern F1 doesn't like, and i suspect the garages are not up to scratch either. The circuit itself i can't comment on because it's one i haven't tried any simulations of! It's wide enough though and there are potential passing places, plus there's an airport just a couple of miles to the north.
Maybe the VIP facilities don't have the required marble floors and Atlantis wood veneer.
According to Wikipedia; on the podium in 1997 the Mayor decided he was going to give a trophy that someone from Daimler was supposed to present, which earned the circuit a ban. F1 just never got around to going back.
Just guessing here; maybe the area doesn't have a trade and it's self-sustaining but has no export which makes it unable to stump up the 'right to party' fees that Ecclestone demands.
I can't say if it would be any more exciting than Barcelona but it would be nice to have some non-chamiponship races in order to find out if older tracks are worth renovating for F1.
Barcelona though would be a much better prospect if they put the last corner back how it was.
The Google maps photo amused me, with the mini-Jerez karting track. Neat idea. http://bit.ly/pet8a4
Thanks for your thoughts on that Dave. In the case of Jerez, gravel traps could be tarmacked over, or even partially tarmacked over as we see on some corners at Suzuka this weekend for example, and garages could be updated. Jerez looks quite futuristic with that giant flying saucer shaped building above the start/finish straight! I thought it was quite interesting when F1 first raced there in 1986, providing us with a grandstand finish between Mansell and Senna. The circuit (with an even shorter back straight then) seemed a pleasant change after years at Jarama. The karting track at Jerez looks tortuous compared to the one at Brands Hatch which is based on the short Indy Circuit. Many tracks indeed have a similar shaped karting track which is like you say, a nice touch.
Prior to Jarama, one Spanish circuit that often appears on peoples top 10 or top 20 favourites is Montjuic Park, up on the hill in Barcelona. Apparently great to drive, but very deadly, which is why it was dropped. It's worth noting that a forgotten Spanish circuit that was used in the 1920s, in the shape of the 2km steeply banked oval at Sitges Terramar (very close to Barcelona), is still intact and drivable if you remove the fences blocking the track!
what about the even smaller track next to the kart track. They should make an RC track next to that one.
I seem to remember spectating being quite good at Jerez as well. But i was there in 95 i think.
Cant we have two British GP's?
...or...
...maybe...
the return of a French GP?
Bernie wants to race in Paris. Madness. There won't be two British GPs because who else can afford one? Unless I win the lottery and take it to Pembrey.
Would that make proposed street races in Paris, New York and London on the cards then? That would be utter madness, as they'd all end up like Las Vegas in the '80s - overhyped.
What;s hummus? Is it a variation on houmous?
I think it's one of those things you can spell either way. Hummus is closer to the Turkish though, so I went with that. The BBC spell it houmous, interesting (or not interestingly) enough.
A very QI type response Ben, thanks. 2 points.