Formula 1: Is it 1993 Again?

Ben Auty breaks down a great day in Formula One, an especially great day if you are British. Please note that this article is not a Race Report.

by Ben Auty (Columnist)

1082 reads

Editorial

July 06, 2008

NOTE TO READER—This just might be the greatest article you will ever read on Bleacher Report. Yes, it's true, even if I do say so myself.

I really didn’t know what headline I could use for this article. I also didn’t really know what I should write about, considering we will have an abundance of articles posted within the next two hours, and then for the sleepy ones amongst us within the next two days. Possible article titles that I wanted were:

Formula 1: It’s a one for all you doubters
Formula 1: This is an advertisement for Silverstone
Formula 1: Where is Donington now?
Formula 1: Ferrari strategists questioned again

I could go all day. So what do I write about? Do I write a race recap article for a race in which you have all just watched anyway? No, that would be silly. Like I said before, there will be another 20 of those for you to read very soon.

Shall I write another article about why Donington is such a bad idea now that we have had the chance to hear from Simon Gillet (Donington Park CEO) before the race?

Do I focus on Ferrari and talk about another terrible day for them, and how they can feel the pressure mounting. How it’s clear to see that winning either one of the driver or constructor’s championship will not be plain sailing, as some Ferrari fans would like to believe.

I am going to start by talking about our British friend, Mr. Lewis Hamilton. He has just driven one of the greatest drives that some of us will ever see in our lifetime.

Let’s start by talking purely about this race.

Lewis had a pretty miserable Q3, where he overcooked the corner into Priory and ended up running through a gravel trap. Without going into any more detail, the long and short of it is that he qualified in fourth position. I’m sure you all know anyway because you will have read the 15 articles posted about this by now, just in case you didn’t watch it?

So, race day, in a very small nutshell:

Lewis Hamilton started fourth place, and by the end of lap one he was second, and he was certainly applying the pressure for the lead, and Heikki was feeling the pressure. Lewis was leading the race by lap five.

That's pretty much the way it stayed for the youngster. That was the beginning of what Lewis has already described as, "by far the best victory he has ever had”; who would disagree with that?

In a race where it was raining, then it wasn’t raining; do we go intermediate tyres or full wets? It seemed as though the wets were the choice at one point, as Barrichello started to punch well above his weight, so Lewis pitted in for tyres. Wets? Hell no...On went another set of intermediates, and somehow he started to match the wet tyres, lap for lap, on intermediates. It’s just another monumental achievement by Lewis on a great day.

Skip a few laps to the final lap and Lewis had lapped everyone up to third place Barrichello. After Lewis crossed the line, it took second-place Nick Heidfeld in his BMW over one minute and eight seconds to finish.

So why is my article different than everyone else's?

Because I am not writing a race report. You all watched the race for God’s sake, you know what happened, and if you don’t know what happened...SHAME ON YOU! You missed a classic...I am talking classic in the terms used when describing this year’s Monaco and last year’s Fuji, yes, it was that good. It was, in my opinion, BETTER!

It truly is ironic that the announcement for the British Grand Prix will move to Donington Park as of 2010, and this is why.

NOTE TO READER—Prepare to be very freaked out by my findings.

It was almost 15 years ago to the day that Donington Park held its only F1 race in the World Championship, 15 years till the announcement of the next race, which we now know will be in 2010. Here is the freaky part:

Donington '93—It was raining on and off and caused the drivers to make a lot of unscheduled pit stops.
Silverstone '08—It was raining on and off forcing the drivers to make a lot of unscheduled pit stops.
Donington '93—The pit stops ironically would be the talking point of the day as they won and lost the race for some. It was also debated that the fastest lap of the race, driven by Ayrton Senna, should not have counted as he used the pit lane as a shortcut.

Silverstone '08—The pit stops again are one of the talking points of the day, which saw the race both won and lost on key decisions. Ferrari made some truly awful decisions which took them from one second behind the lead to over one lap behind by the chequered flag.
Donington '93—Barrichello started the race in '93 back in 12th place but finished in fourth, he would have finished higher but he had problems with his fuel system.
Silverstone '08—Barrichello started in 16th but finished in third, he would have finished higher but had problems with his re-fuelling system.
Donington '93—Ayrton Senna won in his McLaren.
Silverstone '08—Lewis Hamilton won in his McLaren.
Donington '93—Senna started the race in fourth and won.
Silverstone '08—Today Lewis started the race in fourth and won.
Donington '93—Ayrton Senna lapped everyone up to second-placed Damon Hill who was 1 minute 23 seconds behind him.
Silverstone '08—Lewis Hamilton lapped everyone up to third-placed Rubens Barrichello who was 1 minute 22 seconds behind him.
Donington '93-Ayrton took over 3 drivers in his first lap.
Silverstone '08-Hamilton took over 2 drivers in his first lap, could have been 3 if Heikki didnt play so hard to get.
Donington '93 - The driver of the winning car wore a yellow and green helmet.
Silverstone '08 - The driver of the winning car wore a yellow and green helmet.

(Accreditation for the last fact to Steven Stones for pointing this one out, cheers matey, anyone else with any interesting tit bits about this race then speak up damn it!)

By now I am pretty sure you cannot believe what you are reading. Well it’s the truth people, and you can even check it all out for yourself. Irony or what?

Somebody please show these figures to Lewis Hamilton. He has always compared himself to Ayrton Senna. Well today, I am sure he has never been closer to him. It almost brings a tear to my eye.

Next up on the agenda is the Silverstone era coming to an end. I am going to speak on behalf of everyone here when I say that today’s race was an advertisement for future races at the home of British Motorsport that is Silverstone.

Do you honestly think that if the race today was at Donington Park it would have compared to that? I find it hard to believe that it would, unfortunately. Of course, we can’t ever know, but that's just my opinion.

Surely, at the very least, some kind of deal should be struck to say that Donington Park and Silverstone share the British GP alternate years. That question was posted to Ecclestone, who didn’t rule it out. He did say that the GP was at Donington, but if it was to be re-assessed, it would be based purely on a business decision and that would be between Silverstone and Donington if they could come to an agreement.

Damon Hill responded by saying that Silverstone wasn’t out of it just yet.

Interesting times, but all I have to say is, re-watch today’s race and tell me that wasn’t a classic and something for us Brits to be proud of. We staged a great race, we produced a British race winner, we have just secured the British GP for another 10 years, and to be fair, on the back of today’s result, we should have it in the bag for another 10 on top of that.

Moving on, I am sure you all know how much of a McLaren fan I am. Not wanting to rub salt in the wound, but Ferrari, ha ha ha ha ha, good try boys. It was a comedy of errors for the boys in red again. Shall we recap?

Ferrari fans...LOOK AWAY NOW!

Practice—Massa hits tyre wall/Kimi didn’t find balance

Qualifying—Massa will start ninth after problems with his nuts; maybe he should see a doctor about that. Kimi starts third. Maybe he didn’t get the balance right again?

Race Day:

Lap One—Kimi starts well, keeping his place as Hamilton and Webber trade places. Massa spins and is down in 17th place (Spin 1).
Lap Four—Massa spins again (Spin 2).

During this period, the Ferraris look good: Massa is slowly but surely churning back through the field, Raikkonen pushes to within touching distance of Hamilton.

Lap 21—Raikkonen pits in and doesn’t change his tyres.
Lap 22—Massa pits.
Lap 28—Ferrari realise that not changing their tyres was a bad idea as Kovalainen and Heidfeld overtake Kimi.
Lap 31—Kimi Pits in for some new intermediates, finally.
Lap 32—Massa pits again.
Lap 37—Massa spins (Spin 3)
Lap 38—Raikkonen spins (Spin 1)
Lap 39—Raikkonen spins (Spin 2)
Lap 48—Massa Spins (Spin 4)
Lap 52—Massa Spins (Spin 5)
Lap 52—Massa pits
Massa—13th, Raikkonen—fourth

Not a great day for Ferrari. The best phrase I could use for that would be: "It never rains but it pours in the Ferrari garage", sorry Ferrari fans. No offence caused, you may read on.

At the top of the championships tables, things look very, very tight, and at the official midpoint of the season, have things ever been so exciting? It truly is mouth-watering, the prospects for the back nine (sorry for the golf pun there).

It really is anyone’s championship. I wouldn’t like to think I was going to call which way it would go right now for either championship. So on into the second-half of the season we go. It's further back than it is forward, so on we go.

Drivers Championship:

Lewis Hamilton—48 Points
Felipe Massa—48 Points
Kimi Raikkonen—48 Points
Robert Kubica—46 Points
Nick Heidfeld—36 Points
Heikki Kovalainen—24 Points

Constructors Championship:

Ferrari—96
BMW Sauber—82
McLaren Mercedes—72
Toyota—25
Red Bull Renault—24
Williams—16

So it's potentially a four-horse race for the drivers and a three-horse race for the constructors, with only two, maybe three, wins being the difference between third and first. Things are tight and we should consider ourselves lucky to be witnessing such a truly great championship.

Times are changing for F1, and surely things will only get tighter in years to come with the emergence of teams like Honda and Red Bull who are promising big things for next year. Stay glued to your screens and don’t go anywhere.

Brits be prepared for every tabloid to have Lewis pasted all over their back pages, maybe even front pages. It's strange how two-faced these guys can be. To sell papers one week you are public enemy No. 1, whether it is for not stopping at a red light or for cutting a corner. Then you win your home GP and I can be sure right now that at least one of them tips him for the championship on the back of this. Look out for headlines such as:

Hamilton’s Championship Back on Course

Hero Happy at Home

Penultimate Silverstone won by Brave Brit

I think the headline should be “Hamilton Silences Critics”, but no, surely a tabloid wouldn’t make a comment like that? That would be like retracting their own statements. Oh well, such is life.

I am going to wrap things up now and hopefully this has been a nice break from the norm of recap after recap of something that you have just spent two hours of your life watching while biting every fingernail clean off.

Hope it wasn’t too long for some of you people who prefer a quick read. Sorry Alex, Michael, Shak, ha ha...I just can’t help myself.

Ben, Over and Out!

NEW REVISION - 1.1

PS - I dont normally do a driver of the day because its just not my thing BUT ... I have to, my reason below:

Driver of the day - Nick Heidfeld

Reason - Lap 24 over took Glock and Alonso on the same corner (Luffield), 4 laps later on lap 28 does exactly the same on the same corner over taking both Kovalainen and Raikkonen. 4 passes on 1 corner in 4 laps, outstanding, showing that its not just Kubica with the class in the BMW Saubers. Well done that chap!

Editorial

1082 views

comments (62) write a comment »

reply to comment by Miles
about 1 month ago

Quote - "This just might be the greatest article you ever read on Bleacher Report"
Response - I think it just might be, you have put it all in here, there was me thinking it was just going to be another race report, how silly of me.

Another great analysis, as for those facts about those comparisons on Silverstone and Donington, scary really, especially like you said on the weekend when it is announced that Donington will get the Grand Prix in 2010. How did you find those out, what made you think to use those in the first place?

I think I can speak on behalf of a lot of the writers in this community in saying that article after article you cement your place at the top of the writer rankings and you are an asset to the site, how are you not community leader by now? Every article you write is written with so much quality, and the knowledge and facts you have about this sport really do astound me. Are you sure you havent been doing this for years?

Another great article Ben and well worthy of the POTD again, good luck for your next article.
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Ha ha ... Thanks Miles, you know me better than that by now ... Race Report, not my style !
  
  The Donington / Silverstone facts came to me because I can remember reading about the fantastic start that Senna had back then and just out of curiosity checked how it compared with Lewis start today when I was looking at the facts I realised just how similar the 2 races where ... Wierd I know ! Guess I was just lucky I looked into it.
  
  As for speaking on behalf of the board, thanks for that BUT ... I dont know whether everyone thinks how you do, okay I hit some lucky breaks and I got lucky with a few good articles which I managed to capture quite well but I guess I dont see myself as good as I maybe could be sometimes ?
  
  I honestly dont know how to become community leader so thats maybe why, I dont know what it involves either but I would certainly like to give it a shot, does that mean that Shak would have to step down or would it be like a "co" community leader situation, if anyone could shed any light please do.
  
  Oh and no I havent been doing this for years, ha ha ... Just over 1 month as my profile says, ha ha !
  
  Thanks again Miles ... Great stuff, its you guys who keep scoring me and leaving comments which help me to my status, I am pretty proud but its scary because there are so many great writers on this site. I feel priviliged to be among them.
reply to comment by Ryan
about 1 month ago

Great article ben, that is really weird. I was reading your facts and thinking, noway can this be true, but I witnessed the race today (live at silverstone, it was amazing) and I'm sure you got the 93' facts from reliable sources. POTD for sure. One small mistake (i may be wrong) but isn't Kubica on 46 points?
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Thanks Ryan, I am so jealous I wasnt there to witness ... Hope your not too wet, ha ha !
  
  Facts are all true ... Check them for yourself ... Wikipedia would be a great start but trust me, all 100% true, I wouldnt write them otherwise !
  
  Thanks for POTD and score and comments, I really do appreciate them Ryan, thanks man !
  
  As for my small mistake, god u r right ... I cant believe I made an error, I am embarrassed ... Maybe a slip of the finger or a slip or the mind, either way I cocked up, I will rectify this immediately !
  
  Thanks again matey.
2. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Corrected, my apologies again and thanks for spotting that and pointing it out. I must proof read, ha ha !
3. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  No POTD ? ... Heartbreaking :(
  
  Ha Ha ! ... But you said you would Ryan !
reply to comment by Maria
about 1 month ago

Great recap and the comparison between '93 and this year is both very convincing and surprising. You know your history that so soon after the race you could make this analysis. You get my POTD too!
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Wow thanks Maria, really appreciate it ... Great stuff ... Im going to cry, ha ha ha ... It was sheer luck, honestly, I wish I did know my facts that well ... I wouldnt be sat here typing I would have James Allens microphone in my hand on race day, ha ha ... Thanks again Maria, appreciate it !
reply to comment by Michael
about 1 month ago

good article ben, bloody soaked here man. i was gonna do something quite similar to this, but you beat me to it. good on ya anyway mate, saves me doing it.

pub, dinner, f1 on ps3 all night then bed, cushty.
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Cheers matey, glad ur soaked, ha ha ... U know its worth it !
  
  Sounds like your all set mate ... Early one for me, work in morning.
reply to comment by L.J.
about 1 month ago

Damn ... watching now in the US ... spoiled it for me. HAHA.
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  LJ, your well late man, it was all over hours ago, ha ha ... Sorry mate, but you should have known that there would be someone on here to rain on your day, ha ha !
reply to comment by Alex
about 1 month ago

Hey Ben

Greatest article ever on B/R... no way mate Rock n roll was the best by a mile in my books!!! hahahaha!!! I really enjoyed this long piece although you know how I prefer short and sweet lol

anyways yeah 93 and 08 so eerie isn't it??? Also all this nonsense bout the British GP being moved to Donington - what a load of mediatic cr.pouda No way Donington will be as good as Silverstone and beside The Northamptonshire venue is going through a mutli million pounds revamp package that was meant to boost its chance to stay on the calendar - what is uncle Bernie thinking???

By the way you and all of us who watched it on TV counted 5 spins for Massa; I wouldn't be surprised if some extra footage was to appear on You tube showing some more spins we haven't seen hahahaa!!!!

And bout the tabloid they should leave Hamilton alone I mean come on it's one thing blasting a footballer for being a cheat or doing drugs or what have you; but Lewis has so much class those newspapers don't even deserve to have him lambasted in their columns - not even worth of their journalists writing about him....

Anyways rant is over

great stuff
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Yeah the Rock n Roll one was pretty special, I enjoyed that period of time, right in the spotlight, ha ha ! But this follows suit surely, its a good one !
  
  Yes the comparisons are very wierd, couldnt believe it myself when I saw them, they kept jumping at me and I honestly couldnt believe my luck ! Silverstone is still going to have that re-development done so hopefully we can get the GP back sooner rather than later.
  
  Yeah Massa probably did spin more than 5 times, almost like he was driving on ice, not a good day for him was it ?
  
  The tabloids are responsible for the pressure thats on him, yes as a sportsman in the spotlight he should be able to deal with it BUT why put our own homegrown talent under so much pressure ? ... We should support our home sportmen and women not rip them apart, we like winning so lets contribute, if he was a weak person he would crack and then what ... No British winner for our GP today thats for sure !
  
  Good rant !
reply to comment by Nick
about 1 month ago

awesome. cracking article but certainly freaky are them facts. as you say Lewis has always wanted to be the next Ayrton Senna, and today is the closest he has ever been giving us a fantastic show of sportmanship, competitivness, and just sheer brilliance !
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Absolutely, he was in another class today, no one could have touched him rain or shine !
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

Ben A Master Piece Yet Again , Only One More Error Tho Mate , You Put Kimi Starts Fourth , He Started 3rd , Dont worry im not looking for errors i just saw it and It Confused my already tiny brain ha ha . Classic Stuff Nauty .
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Noted and changed ... Guess I was rushing to get the piece out ... Ha ha, cheers mate.
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

dont worry its still a top notch article its only a slight error , ive made bigger errors , just thought you would like to know before someone came in all tarzan . ( i used my POTD on Michaels Before ) both are worthy POTDs I Just Didnt Anticipate this one coming out . sorry mate , ill certainly pick of the day it tomorrow if i still can .

i really thought to myself EH !!!!!! As I was reading this , it was looking like a race report , and went into a full blown full weekend report With A Little Quip At Ferraris Laughable Performance .

your crafty mr auty but its genius ha ha

I Really did expect kim and felipe to be better today , they spun too many times , Although Credit Where Credit Is Due Felipe Kept Going And He Probabnly Felt Like Parking The Car As Brundle Said , So To Carry On Shows True Spirit . same goes for kimi to take 4th after his problems . all in all poor tifosi weekend :-)
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Yeah I appreciate you telling me in a civil manner ha ha ... You could have been nastier ! Thanks mate.
  
  Oh cheers on the POTD matey, I will look out for that one tomorrow, dont go letting me down like Ryan did mate, promises promises and all that stuff ! I'll be waiting, ha ha !
  
  Ha ha ha ... Yes I am quite craft, I told you it wasnt a race report at the beginning, not my interest to repeat what you all watched anyway, plus like I said plenty of people will do that for me so on with my freak comparisons and of course a dig at Ferrari for good measure ... Love to see them fail as a McLaren fan, I am sure everyone knows by now, ha ha !
  
  Apologies to Ferrari fans again but I am sure you guys enjoy seeing McLarens fail, oh well thats sport for you. But trust, I am not out to annoy anyone !
  
  Yes fair play to them for carrying on, I was watching the live timings on my laptop and I think when he spun out the 5th time he was 54 seconds behind 12th place, then he pitted immediately and it showed up on the monitor that he retired ... The big red OUT showed next to his name but then it wasnt registered as a DNF so he must have continued and finished. But yes all in all ... Bad weekend to be a Tifosi ... Unlucky guys !
reply to comment by Brad
about 1 month ago

Very enjoyable piece of writing Ben, and you definitely get some points for the unique style.

I won't take up too much of your time with the comments, since you're probably still busy wringing out your clothes. Bit of a rainy day for you in blighty, what what?
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Thanks Brad, appreciate that ! I like to try and keep my articles as different as I possibly can, dont like to fit in with the norm !
  
  Yes it has been a strange old day but thats normal for us, rainy weekends are great, ha ha ... Its still belting down here now, my lawn is getting a good old licking though so I can hope for sun tomorrow and it will grow a treat. Ha ha ... Its looking like a prize winning lawn, good enough for Federer and Nadal to play on !
  
  Jolly good show old chap !
reply to comment by Janet
about 1 month ago

Great article Ben. What can I say? I am a Ferrari fan, actually more of a Kimi fan but I must say your boy Lewis was superb today! He was in a class of his own. Cheers!
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Thats very humble of you Janet, great to see an opposing fan giving credit when credit is due, I must say I would be exactly the same if Kimi drove as Lewis did today, I should have a soft spot for Kimi and I dare say I would if he was still at McLaren and the same for Massa, if he was driving for McLaren I would like him but because he drives a red car with a prancing horse on the front I have to develop a hatred for him, its in my McLaren blood and for that I am truly sorry ... It must be a genetic thing ? But thanks again Janet, appreciate your comments.
reply to comment by Carol
about 1 month ago

My husband and I are F1 fans from across the Pond (Toronto, Ontario, Canada - you can find it on Google Earth, I'll bet). We have enjoyed flawless weather this weekend; you fans didn't. But we enjoyed the race every bit as much...thank you for your interesting article! We will look forward to all the ensuing gossip over the Silverstone/Donington developments - please dig up some juicy bits for us!
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Hey Carol, glad you like my article, put a lot of work into it ...
  
  Yes it was a bit of a muggy weekend for us over here in the UK, its the norm for us though, we are used to it, ha ha !
  
  As for the juicy gossip over the Silverstone / Donington saga, rest assured every snippep of info dug up will be on this site for sure.
reply to comment by Kyle
about 1 month ago

Nice piece Ben. As usual, top notch.

However, the "not quite a full Hamilton lover" in me (I think he's great...but I don't have a favorite F1 driver) isn't quite sure about comparing him with Senna. For sure, he's asserted himself as the new rain meister. But, he's got a long way to go (60 more poles, 30 more wins, & 3 championships) before I'll say he's as good as Senna. All the same, I enjoyed your reading...so long as you don't go James Allen & compare Hamilton's every waking breath to Senna (youtube let's a yankee like me behold Allen's commentary).

All the same, if he can just stay consistent, he could very well bring a title home this year (I'd love to see it).

Also, I don't think any Ferrari fan should be offended by your analysis of their race. You were only stating what we all saw: the Ferrari drivers laid a huge egg (almost as large as the one they laid back in Melbourne).
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Hey Kyle ... Dont get me wrong mate his drive at Silverstone was majestic but the article isnt to big Hamilton up and compare him to Senna ... Its purely to show the freaky coincidences between the 2 races, it just so happens it was Hamilton and McLaren at the front this weekend but if it was Heidfeld and BMW then the article would have been just the same to compare the 2 races.
  
  Kyle I value your opinion as a fellow Bleacher but dont compare me to James Allen please ... That would be great if you could refrain from this. Thanks mate.
  
  Ha ha ha ... I am glad you dont think I was too harsh on Ferrari, I havent had no backlash yet ... Hope it dont come, ha ha !
reply to comment by Kyle
about 1 month ago

Ben

Didn't mean to compare you w/ James Allen (sorry about that)...was wishing you to remain as you are: a bit biased toward Hamilton but not overbearing as *some* commentators are...& I know it wasn't the big part of the article...but it was a small part I noticed & wanted to comment.

Personally...if Hamilton can keep his his head on right and not pull a Jacques Villeneuve (leave a storied and successful team for a brand new one)...I think he could end up having comparable numbers with Senna. (hopes to not have rocks thrown at him by Senna lovers).

For sure, I fully agree with you that his race yesterday was amazing...although I'll rate his Monaco one slightly higher (Monaco's tough as is...I can't imagine what that place is like to drive in when it's wet).
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Okay thenK Kyle I will let you off but you still have me all wrong ... I am biased towards McLaren as a team not Lewis Hamilton as a driver ... He is a great driver and I love to see a Brit do well but I am a McLaren fan.
  
  As for keeping his head on and sticking to the task yes he potentially can have a very long and successful career that ultimitaly could see him up alongside the greats such as Schumi and Senna !
  
  Monaco and Silverstone ... Highlights of the season so far for sure !
reply to comment by carol
about 1 month ago

What can i say Ben ... your article awesome ... as for the comparison of years .... as you say ..freaky..
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Ha ha ha ... What r u doing on here ... Surely you have some school work to be getting on with Mrs Auty, ha ha ha ... What you like ?
  
  I must admit when I sent you the link to start reading my articles I wondered how long it would be before you couldnt resist signing up and having a say eh ? Ha ha
  
  Thanks mam, r u proud of me ? ;) ... All the boys are going to take the piss out of me just cos I got a cool mam who watches the GP with me ! Woo hoo !
  
  New Topic, who else watches the GP with their mam ? Ha ha !
reply to comment by steven
about 1 month ago

Just before we get into arse kissing an awesome article!!

It is my opinion that we need not a European Grand Prix at Valencia because Spain simply does not deserve it! Fernando Alonso with his past antics and his mere two Championships do not warrant a second race. Schumacher in Germany yes, but no, not Spain. Britain has eight World Champions and an army of dedicated fans who would happily have the opportunity and pay the money to go to both Silverstone and Donnington. Donnington is a good track but it aint the home of British racing!

And now the arse kissing. Because it truly is worth it. This is a freaky occurance indeed and proves my lecturer right! History really does repeat itself! I don't believe that the helmet designs are not important either, both yellow and green? Scarey really. Top job though, and yeah thanks for that crack at those of us who have thus far written only race reports. I'll try harder honest! hehe POTD nice one!
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  What a legendary idea ... That is truly brilliant ... 2 British GP's ... Oh my god why didnt I think of that ? Maybe WHEN we have our British champ then we will be worthy and the Bernie Money Wagon will consider it ... Not if but WHEN we have our Champ ! We should have Silverstone as the British and Donington as the European ! WOO HOO !
  
  OH MY GOD ... The yellow and green helmets ... I totally forgot about that ... I am totally going to put that into the article, edit coming up ... Dont worry about it mate I will put an accreditation for you on there so you get a shout out, ha ha ha !
  
  I wasnt meaning to have a crack at you all about the repeat articles ... You know what its like mate ... I like to comment on all articles posted on the F1 community, im nice like that you see and when you have 5 articles on site that are pretty much the same ... Well its a bit tedious, dont get me wrong, your writing is great man and I rate it for sure. As for everyone else their articles are all different in their own ways which is why I like to comment them all but I just thought I would have another little dig, ha ha !
2. by steven
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Fair do's re-runs of the race are I suppose sort of easy since if you're reading this stuff you surely watched the race! Anyhoo just kiddin! I appreciate how you actually read and comment them though! Thanks! And yeah next two years tops for our two race venues! Come on Bernard you know it makes sense!
3. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Yeah man ... I ALWAYS read and ALWAYS comment ... Its good to give feedback ... I always put stars on too !
4. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Done ... I have added it and put your name on it ... Your famous now mate, ha ha !
5. by steven
  from about 1 month ago
  
  hehehe cheers man! You have as well!
6. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  I am a man of my word !
reply to comment by carol
about 1 month ago

I purposely didn't sign in as Carol Auty hoping to save you the embarrassment of the boys knowing i your mum ... however i am very proud of you and enjoy reading your articles as well as comments given by others .. good positive feedback .... and as for the gp ... love it ... no house or school work gets done but hey what the hell ....
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Ha ha ha ... Whoops, guess that didnt work eh ... Dont worry, they will get bored after a while ... They just jealous cos they dont all watch GP with their mams. Ha ha ha !
reply to comment by carol
about 1 month ago

by the way.. am looking forward to speaking to other mums who watch gp with their sons / daughters ...
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  You will wait a long time I reckon, ha ha !
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

Ha Ha nice Ben , Another Auty family Member On Bleacher report , i might get my brothers to sign up on here then the battle will be on , i have 5 of them :-) .

Hello Mrs auty Welcome to bleacher , You gave birth to A great writer and an absolute headcase Haha .
1. by carol
  from about 1 month ago
  
  lol... ace ain;t he but i so biased .... hi to u 2 ...
2. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Ha ha ha ... Cheers Mark, very kind of you ... I do try ! As for having 5 brothers ... Just the one for me ha ha ... Think you win on that one !
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

ha ha but he is a passionate fan of mclaren , no one can blame him for that .

He aint as biased as the FIA are to Ferrari . ooh Ben did you like that unprovoked Dig .
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Ha ha ha ... I take it in good humour man, dont worry about it ... I am very passionate and try not to be too biased, look at some of my replies to the Ferrari article from earlier, shows I can appreciate them as a team !
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

i know the parents were very busy people ha ha , no entertainment in their day an all that .

I appreciate ferrari too .... the ferrari enzo , dino , maranello and testerossa are all crackin road cars ha ha . im a mclaren nut like you so dont worry about the bias . its like im bias towards man united too . at least we admit it , ferrari fans (apologies to the genuines ) dont !!!!!
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  The 360 Modena ... Hmmmmmm ... The Spyder ! What a sexy beast !
  
  Glad your onside with the Woking boys, love it ! I dont know what I would do without my beloved McLaren.
  
  Ohhhh a Man Utd fan hey ... I am a Hartlepool fan, down in the depths of League 1, come on ! Ha ha ha ... Was down your neck of the woods last year when I went down to watch the boys play Stockport ... 3-3 draw, great sunny day ... Excellent !
  
  Will give you a shout next time I am down ! Ha ha
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

no worries . you will know my mate from school then , he plays for doncaster rovers , now in championship , richie wellens . went to both schools together and played football together a lot only he was good i was just ok .

i love mclaren mate . i like other f1 teams too . but id put my eggs in the mclaren basket if you put me on the spot ha ha .

and yeah give me a shout if your over these ways to play the port . yep the modena and spyder are great cars too .
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Big Richie, loving it down the ranks in the lower leagues, where football gets played properly, none of your Premiership diving !
  
  I am McLaren through and through ... I dont mind seeing Williams do well but thats it, any other team, dont wanna know, ha ha !
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

Big Richie the fat turd Yes , He has Gone Pretty Big , I Had a Bit of a Fight With him in primary School It was actually Over a Football Funnily Enough . i do believe watching lower league football has more of an edge to it , full blooded and not much chance to get your breath back .

i was born and raised a man united fan , im not one of the glory hunters , if united were in championship then id be gutted but i wouldnt jump ship , i hate the daft beggars who changed to FC United , bunch of sell outs .

and i understand yor full commitment to mclaren its ok Mate . I just love watching it no matter who does well but im 100% Rooting for lewis and heikki . Which makes me a Mclaren fan with a tendancy to like other drivers ha ha except Alonso i Cant stand him as a person , cocky Catalunian Wan**er . great driver .
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Yeah I agree ... Alonso is way up his own *ss ... He needs to be knocked down a peg or two ... I rate him as a driver but as a team player or a person ... IDIOT ! ...Cut me open and my blood would be silver just like the McLaren, ha ha !
reply to comment by mark
about 1 month ago

ha ha terminator business with the silver blood . for me just coz he is a 2 time WDC doesnt mean he gets preferential treatment , except now coz he is back at renault . . Ever since the day he Blocked hamilton at hungaroring It became blatantly obvious that he wants o be a team on his own or he will stamp his feet , he done it this year , he wanted more money than raikkonen else he was going else where he told renault . just childish . and idiotic but hey hes a spaniard ha ha .
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  In a nutshell you nailed it there mate... Couldnt have put it better myself ... Not on really !
reply to comment by Cory
about 1 month ago

Ben I think you got carried away here but ok haha. It was a Great drive, but do remember that Kimi was faster in the 1st stint Nick was As fast overall (sometimes ffster) in the 2nd stint, and Rubens was much faste 2/3's through the race. Also, Senna was on DRY tires for most of that race and it was very wet.

Also -

Donington '93—Senna started the race in fourth and won. (You mighta s well sy he started 6th)
Silverstone '08—Today Lewis started the race in fourth and won.

Donington '93—Ayrton Senna lapped everyone up to second-placed Damon Hill who was 1 minute 23 seconds behind him.
Silverstone '08—Lewis Hamilton lapped everyone up to third-placed Rubens Barrichello who was 1 minute 22 seconds behind him. (65 Seconds to 2nd place and 1:22 to 3RD Place)

Also -

Donington '93—Ayrton Senna qualified 1.6 seconds slower, hence his car was At Least that much slower than the Williams cars.
Silverstone '08 - Heikki was on pole by a solid half second so the McLaren was the fastest car in the field.

Donington '93-Ayrton took over 3 drivers in his first lap. (No no no it was 6, and it was the Single Greatest Lap in F1 history, every pass was Fantastic. Hamilton took over almost all 3 in the first turn basically because he got a good start)

Greatest Rain Drive? Absolutely Not, A Fantastic Drive and a top 10 for sure. But not in the Top 3.
Great drives I can think of other than Senna a Donington: Schumi, 1996 Spanish GP (Qualified a second slower but his Fastest Lap was over 2 seconds quicker than anyone else's. He only won by 40 seconds but I'll review the race and see why that was, becuase 4th place ended up a lap down) and Jackie Stewart's 4 minute win at The Ring in 1968.
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  There is always one aint there ...
  
  I dont think I got carried away here ... Neither did the 860 reads or the 59 comments and coutless POTD votes I received for this, sorry Cory but had to put that one in there !
  
  It doesnt matter that Kimi was fastest in the first stint, he didnt win, he spun twice and he got the wrong strategy. Nick Heidfeld drove a great race but if it didnt rain would he have won, no I dont think so ... I dont think he would have even got podium ! Rubens was only faster because he was on full wets, even then he only had 3 seconds a lap on Lewis and that was only for a period of time, NOT 2/3's as you said !
  
  I cant comment on Senna being on dry tyres for most of the race but for some reason I find it hard to believe that matey. Sorry.
  
  No I might not aswell say that Senna started 6th, he started 4th, he got a bad start, in terms of placing he took over 4 people, therefore my fact is right. I never once ever put Senna down for this lap, 99% of true F1 fans would openly agree that it was quite possibly be the greatest lap ever driver.
  
  As for you reiterating my point about his times he finished ahead of Nick and Rubens ... Thank you ... What is your point ?
  
  As for the two cars being different in power from the person on the front row of the grid ... SO WHAT ? ... The Ferraris qualified in 3rd and 9th ... They finished in 4th and 13th, McLaren qualified in 1st and 4th yet finished in 1st and 5th ... So in the rain means nothing hence Rubens finishing in 3rd Cory !
  
  So the differences in starts where the contributing factor ... Just because you are a Lewis hater it dont mean that you have to take it away from him what he did, everyone else, whether they love him or hate him will solidly agree that Lewis drove an AMAZING race ! Just get on board Cory !
  
  Greatest rain drive ? ... Who said that ? Not me Cory .. I can be quoted as saying "I am going to start by talking about our British friend, Mr. Lewis Hamilton. He has just driven one of the greatest drives that some of us will ever see in our lifetime." At what point did I say "Greatest Rain Drive" there ? ... I didnt so sorry Cory, empty argument ... I couldnt possibly comment on something like that because I am only 25. I havent seen all the other races in history to award such a thing to any drive. Sorry Cory ... I appreciate your comments but feel as though you either hate me, or you hate Lewis and just use this as a platform to voice your opinions.
  
  Thanks for your comments ... This has been fun.
reply to comment by Paul
about 1 month ago

Great article there Ben. Your stats are top quality and your summary is of excellent quality
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Thanks mate, I appreciate that, I really do, glad you enjoyed !
reply to comment by Cory
about 1 month ago

I am not a Lewis hater by Any means, Nor a hater of Anything (except Alonso haha). There is Nothing you can hate about Lewis, in facet, he is the Only driver I would want to meet if I went to an F1 race.

No you did not say "Greatest Rain Drive", but saying "He has just driven one of the greatest drives that some of us will ever see in our lifetime' is a Very very strong statement. Alot of the stats your condemming me on/calling me out on: I'm not sure what you mean by them/where your getting them.
1. by Ben
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Well I can get on board with the Alonso thing for sure, that guys really gets on my nerves !
  
  As for my strong statement, yeah it is a strong statement, but I stand by it !
  
  I think a lot of people would agree with me too, there is one word that is the stand out factor:
  
  "He has just driven 'ONE' of the greatest drives that some of us will ever see in our lifetime"
  
  ONE of ... It means that its up there, by no means is it the greatest, just one of ... How can you deny that?
  
  As for the points I am calling you out on, I have only replied directly to what you type in the orgininal reply.