McLaren and Mercedes Benz will part ways as far as road cars are concerned at the end of the McLaren Mercedes SLR lifecycle. It is understood that Mercedes would be partnering with AMG for its next supercar. However, I suspect that this might not be the actual reason for the split.
Although initially unclear, now Ron Dennis may have let the cat out of the bag. Albeit subtly, he hinted that McLaren may soon enter the automobile sector as a proper manufacturer!
“Grand Prix team(s) to diversify…we do intend to try and match the success of Ferrari”, Ron was caught saying. This could well be the start of a new era or McLaren.
The SLR is a work of art. If McLaren chooses to further diversify its roadcar range, I’m certain that we’ll be seeing many more works of art in the not too distant future. Watch this space.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Arrogance, please
I like Kimi Raikkonen. I think he’s a fantastic driver with tremendous skill. However he’s incredibly boring. He doesn’t provoke anyone the way a Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso or even an Eddie Irvine would. And that’s no good really.
As well as I can tell, F1 is as much about the talk as it is about the racing. There’s always heightened interest in the sport when there’s some form of obvious rivalry (or scandal) going on. We still talk about how Michael wanted to land fist into DC and when Alonso openly criticized the current world champ. It was fun, exciting and we took notice.
Kimi doesn’t go any of that. He drives; then goes home. Bore.
And sadly, his performance in 2008 might also suggest that he’s doing a little less inspired driving that I’m used to seeing.
News has broken on how much the Finn now wants to try rallying. “"It's something that I would like to try for myself one day."” was his comment when he recently toured Rallye du Valais . Given his relatively short attention span, for all we know he might be looking for a way out of F1 – new contract extension notwithstanding.
I don’t have a problem waving goodbye to Kimi for the 2009 season. But the man I want to see in his shoes is the fiery Spainard. Sure he was a pussy for kicking up all that fuss as McLaren, but the excitement it stirred up is excellent. To top it off, he’s a great driver with the best qualifying record (100%) against his team mate this year.
Will it happen? Probably not. But then again, there’s 2011 ;)
As well as I can tell, F1 is as much about the talk as it is about the racing. There’s always heightened interest in the sport when there’s some form of obvious rivalry (or scandal) going on. We still talk about how Michael wanted to land fist into DC and when Alonso openly criticized the current world champ. It was fun, exciting and we took notice.
Kimi doesn’t go any of that. He drives; then goes home. Bore.
And sadly, his performance in 2008 might also suggest that he’s doing a little less inspired driving that I’m used to seeing.
News has broken on how much the Finn now wants to try rallying. “"It's something that I would like to try for myself one day."” was his comment when he recently toured Rallye du Valais . Given his relatively short attention span, for all we know he might be looking for a way out of F1 – new contract extension notwithstanding.
I don’t have a problem waving goodbye to Kimi for the 2009 season. But the man I want to see in his shoes is the fiery Spainard. Sure he was a pussy for kicking up all that fuss as McLaren, but the excitement it stirred up is excellent. To top it off, he’s a great driver with the best qualifying record (100%) against his team mate this year.
Will it happen? Probably not. But then again, there’s 2011 ;)
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Toyota no more
After jumping up and down like a kangaroo on steroids, uncovering the fact that Timo Glock was just too slow was painful. I had already woken the neighbours in the wee hours of the morning and to see Nicole jumping for joy wasn’t the right reason for it.
I’m distraught now.
To be continued…
I’m distraught now.
To be continued…
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