How to roger a double world champion

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Fernando, I think we all know what happened on lap 48 and we don’t need any fairy tales about tyres or anything to be clear of that. I just want to ask you, because in 2006 in Monza you said that Formula One is not a sport any more for you but was that which we saw today a sport?
FA: I think we tried to do our race, we tried to do as good as we can. We are professional drivers, we try to work in a team and we try to do the best we can every day, not only here on the track but also between the races, at the factory etc, preparing the races. Again, I think we’ve been doing a good job over the last couple of races and finally we got a strong Sunday with a strong result. I think we are happy with this, although there are things which are more for you if you want to write all these things.

Q: (Byron Young – The Daily Mirror) Fernando, what have you got to say to the people who would call this a dirty win and if you win the championship, a dirty champion?

Q: (Byron Young – The Daily Mirror) The reality is, though, that you couldn’t beat him on the track, so you had to get the team to do it for you.
FA: If that’s your opinion.

 

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Fernando, you’ve said that you’re happy with this win but to be honest, I’ve never seen a driver look less happy in the middle of a podium there today, and in the middle of this press conference here. Why can’t you just be honest with us for once, and just admit that this win was handed to you on a plate today?

Full press conference here

Total demolition !! LOL ! Who could ever think that Ferrari would ever change ? Rubens Barrichelo?

Ross Brawn on winning the F1 championship

I’m not sure what a fairy tale is. In terms of the fact that taking something which was on its knees and almost finished, and arriving where we have today is for me an exceptional experience. Just seeing the resolve of people who didn’t give up. They were facing being put out on the street and we said ‘we don’t know what’s going to happen but we need your support because if it can happen, without your support, we won’t be in a position to do it. And they just did.

‘Nuff said !

Tan tan tan ! Another one bites the dust !

The Finns are deserting the race track. Hakkinen in 2002, Raikkonen in 2009 and Heiki, uh, got kicked out from his plushy little seat in Mclaren !

Anyways, for me the sore point is Raikkonen pulling out. That sucks ! When Hakkinen retired from F1 in 2001, automatically, his entire fan following (me included) adopted Raikkonen as his successor, especially given that Raikkonen was replacing Hakki in the McLaren. Now there is no real replacement. This leaves me in a real conundrum. I can only hope and watch to see whose going to be in the Mercedes GP (Erstwhile Brawn GP) seats. Those must be HOT !

Ross Brawn interview

The best year of my career – Ross Brawn

From Formula1.com

Favorite F1 circuits

Image Credit: Official site of Spa Franchorchamps

Image Credit: FIA

Brawn and brains win the F1 world championship !

Image Credit: The Telegraph

Yeah baby !!! Brawn wins the double: Jenson Button wins the Formula 1 Driver’s championship title and Brawn GP wins the Constructor’s title. Ross Brawn should be put in the Hall of Fame, being responsible for more victories than even old penis-chin. From BBC Sport:

Brawn has now won nine F1 drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ championships with three different teams – adding his own to Benetton and Ferrari. Button is the first driver other than Michael Schumacher to be crowned under his guidance.

Other important links: The Brains behind Brawn

The Schuderia profile

What I think of Brawn GP team: Brawn – A name to reckon with

The best article I’ve seen describing what Brawn went through: The remarkable story of Brawn GP

On a sad note, Kimi Raikkonen has dropped down to fifth below Lewis Hamilton and won’t probably have a drive in 2010. That sucks !

Brawn…a name to reckon with

Excellent race at Suzuka. People always complain about how there is very little overtaking in F1 races. I would agree to that. But where there are overtaking maneouvers, these are the most excellent moves you would see in motorsport racing. Spa and Suzuka have always been my favorite tracks: Fast, high speed corners, uphills, downhills, chicanes and some crazy races !!! I’m glad that Sebastian Vettel won. He is definitely the next Schumacher (with talent, this time).

More importantly, I am delirious about the fact that Brawn GP is almost surely going to win the Constructor’s Championship. When Honda decided to opt out of this year’s season, it was a foregone conclusion that Ross Brawn would not be able to lead a team where he designed his own car. But then he is ROSS BRAWN ! With a ballsy move in March, 2009, he decided to take over the team. Things were so fucked up for the Brawn GP team that the FIA had to waive the standard entry fee for the team. Even today, there are very few permanent sponsors for the Brawn GP team. With Virgin supporting them this year (I am now an even bigger fan of Richard Branson) and Ross getting sponsors from a race-to-race basis, things were going to be difficult. Further, their drivers were not exactly world champions with Button driving well but never in the contention for a world championship and Barrichelo whose best years were rumored to be left behind in Ferrari, people felt that this was more from an appearance in the season that really anticipation of being among the mid-rung players. Jesus Christ ! With a mistake. Brawn’s previous brilliance with Schumacher in the Ferrari team shone through again with a unexpected but pretty controversial move by adding double diffusers to the car. Double diffusers to put it layman language increase the downforce of the rear of the car hence allowing the car to literally “stick to the road” to take turns at much faster speeds without worrying about spinning out of control. And adding to that, Brawn’s exemplary strategic and tactical calls just kept Button and Barrichelo out in the front in the driver’s championship. This was especially true in the Italian Grand Prix. In a track where KERS was key, Ferrari and McLaren could not touch the Brawn cars. Ross Brawn is a genius. I can’t wait to see what’s up his sleeve next season !!