French Grand Prix - I Want Two Hours of my Life Back!

I’ve been asked many a time why I like formula 1. I have defended the merits of the sport during Schumacher’s dull domination. I have debated with narrow minded people (usually girls) that the sport is not just watching twenty cars driving round in a circle for two hours, but an exhilarating spectacle, which should be watched by anyone with a thirst for excitement and a rush of blood to the head! I have produced many reasons as to why the sport is a fascinating and interesting sport to follow.

            For all those reasons I hope to God that no woman/person who believes that the sport is unwatchable actually watched the forgettable two hour supposed spectacle that was the French Grand Prix. Now don’t get me wrong, the French and Spanish Grand Prix’s are two of my favourite tracks to race on the Playstation; they ooze exuberance and quality entertainment, but when it comes to watching other people ‘race’ around the two tracks, my time may be best spent watching paint dry or sticking pins in my arse!

            The truth of the matter is that both Magny Cours and Catalunya need to go. Get lost; fall off the calendar, never to be seen again. Whichever way you look at it both produced uninspiring, unspectacular and down right dull Grand Prix’s this season, and not for the first time. The excitement with which the British commentators spoke of possible rain in the middle of French nowhere said mountains about the expected damp squib that turned out to be the eighth round of the current season.  

            Why was it uninspiring? Apart from the Adelaide corner there was practically no chance to overtake, little action to watch, and as a whole little to talk about to friends and co-supporters afterwards. F1 became the procession of cars one after the other that allows anti motor racing fanatics ammunition for deeming the sport un-defendable. Highlights were rare, Hamiltongaining a penalty here, Kimi losing exhaust pipes there! Little happened of importance that the drivers took control of.

            What we need now is newer tracks, more appropriate tracks such as those that have appeared in recent years (Bahrain/China), where the tracks were designed with the proposal of various overtaking opportunities and therefore increased spectacle on race days.

            This years French Grand Prix was consistently said to be the last to take place in Magny Cours for the time being as it was being removed from the calendar. So the news that Magny Cours will now possibly be on the 2009 calendar is somewhat disheartening, and about as welcome as the idea of the equally dull Hungarian Grand Prix later on in the season – another race which receives its only positive attributes at the appearance of the heavens opening!

Come on then Bernie Eccleston – time to get yourself in order! No-one likes the track at Magny Cours, not the drivers, not the teams, not the viewers who tune in twenty times a season expecting entertaining sports action. The atmosphere during the weekend was subdued to say the least, the British commentators revealed this in their lacklustre build up to the event, and the sooner the track along with other bore tracks such as Spain and Hungary disappear, the better!

With reference to the race Massacapitalised on Kimi’s misfortune and became championship leader. If ever there was an undeserving championship leader (especially now Sato has been eliminated) Massa is probably it! That is of course unless he demolishes all competitors from here on out and stops making clumsy errors worthy of ridicule and satire! Then I will give him the credit he deserves…..