Kimi Raikkonen and the grand stand. Not a good race for Ferrari; Kimi finished 10th.
by Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
Where are the fans?
It never fails. The race that immediately follows the glitz and glamour of Monaco never seems to live up to the same standard or reputation. Turkey had the honor this year and it seemed like Jenson Button had a good time, but all is not well in F1 right now. Rumors abounded up and down the pit lane that the powers that be actually requested a couple of cameras be turned off during the race, lest someone actually realize that the stands were as empty as they are in Daytona at 2 AM during the 24 hour race, in the rain.
Seriously, there were snippets shown to the world from the cameras mounted on the cars, stands were empty. Ticket sales were less than the number of 18-32 year olds that claimed to have slept with Paris Hilton. This was a very worrying sign for sponsors that have been asked to chip in millions of dollars (or pounds) to sponsor a car next year in a series that is in jeopardy of self destructing. While this is turning into a huge battle of egos, most people have forgotten that this is all about entertainment. The automakers can continue to spout off that they are doing this to improve technology and better their products, but at the end of the day, does one need to spend millions, if not billions of dollars so that you can get a Lexus with a “flappy paddle gearbox”? At the end of the day, F1 is about creating a sport that puts butts in seats and eyes fixated on the TV screen. Anything that jeopardizes this or minimizes the body count diminishes the value of the sport. It seems like most of the decision makers have forgotten this. It is not so much about ticket prices, it is about having a good show.
Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
At least Le Mans is next weekend and some of us can watch real racing again.
Anyway, enough ranting.
Button drove to another win for the maiden F1 team, almost cementing their lock on both titles. Even with Vettel gaining pole, the Brit drove a clean race and ended up with a commanding lead. The timesheets at the end should not be read as a closer finish than it was, he backed off well before the last corner of the last lap. Even with the encouraging performance, the Brawn F1 car is remarkably devoid of sponsorship logos. Maybe the weak global economy has even scared fair weather fans from supporting the winning horse.
Vettel tried to switch strategies to running three stops after blowing pole, but the German never could get out in front or make up the times on the laps that he needed to succeed. In the end, Mark Webber would finish in second, and Vettel would get the last spot on the podium.
Felipe Massa finished 8th.
A 2-3 finish for Red Bull is still nothing to sneeze at. McLaren and Ferrari as still spending the GDP of small nations and can’t get that result. Nor can Toyota spending the GDP that could get them qualified as a G-12 nation…
The also-rans this weekend included Trulli in the Toyota, Rosberg in the Williams, Massa in the Ferrari, and the last two points paying positions went to Kubica and Glock. No Alonso? No Hamilton? Could it be that those two are also like Jenson Button in that they can only win when the car provides them the advantage?
Kimi Raikkonen and Andrea Stella
Maybe I feel a little sorry for those asked to pony up $300 to watch this. It could have been worse, I guess. You could have been stuck watching the tape delay on Fox.
Felipe Massa and Rob Smedley
Race Results
| 1 | BUTTON | Brawn-Mercedes | 1h26m24.848s |
| 2 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | + 6.7s |
| 3 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | + 7.4s |
| 4 | TRULLI |
Toyota | + 27.8s |
| 5 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | + 31.5s |
| 6 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 39.9s |
| 7 | KUBICA | BMW Sauber | + 46.2s |
| 8 | GLOCK | Toyota | + 46.9s |
| 9 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | + 50.2s |
| 10 | ALONSO | Renault | + 62.4s |
| 11 | HEIDFELD | BMW Sauber | + 64.3s |
| 12 | NAKAJIMA | Williams-Toyota | + 66.3s |
| 13 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 80.4s |
| 14 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 15 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 16 | PIQUET | Renault | + 1 lap |
| 17 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 18 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 19 | BARRICHELLO | Brawn-Mercedes | + 11 laps, gearbox damage |
| 20 | FISICHELLA | Force India-Mercedes | + 54 laps, brakes |
| Fastest Lap | BUTTON | Brawn-Mercedes | 1m27.579s |
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | BUTTON | Brawn-Mercedes | 61 Points |
| 2 | BARRICHELLO | Brawn-Mercedes | 35 Points |
| 3 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 29 Points |
| 4 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 27.5 Points |
| 5 | TRULLI | Toyota | 19.5 Points |
| 6 | GLOCK | Toyota | 13 Points |
| 7 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | 11.5 Points |
| 8 | MASSA | Ferrari | 11 Points |
| 9 | ALONSO | Renault | 11 Points |
| 10 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | 9 Points |
| 11 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 9 Points |
| 12 | HEIDFELD | BMW Sauber | 6 Points |
| 13 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | 4 Points |
| 14 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | 3 Points |
| 15 | KUBICA | BMW Sauber | 2 Point |
| 16 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | 2 Point |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | BRAWN-MERCEDES | 96 Points |
| 2 | RBR-RENAULT | 56.5 Points |
| 3 | TOYOTA | 32.5 Points |
| 4 | FERRARI | 20 Points |
| 5 | McLAREN-MERCEDES | 13 Points |
| 6 | WILLIAMS-TOYOTA | 11.5 Points |
| 7 | RENAULT | 11 Points |
| 8 | BMW SAUBER | 8 Points |
| 9 | STR-FERRARI | 5 Points |
As a hard core die hard fan I can honestly say that I’m losing interest. My biggest beefs are: the rules constantly changing,
the crazy race day penalties/rulings, and mostly the two clowns running the show (Bernie and Max). I think they need to get off the boat before it sinks.
-cliff reuter
http://www.etceterini.com
I’m sorry to sound like the grey-beard that I am but I miss the days when F1 was a more open series with very few rules(weight, engine size, open tire choice, plus a few more), many entrants including privateers in last years cars, and drivers who were not preening divas and who could/would participate in all forms of motor-sports(Jimmy Clark drove a Ford Falcon at one point!)
F1 is beginning to look like a bloated, beached whale. I,too, am losing interest, and I’ve been following F1 for over fifty years. The side-show of Bernie and Max ought to close up shop and leave town, like yesterday!
“No Alonso? No Hamilton? Could it be that those two are also like Jenson Button in that they can only win when the car provides them the advantage?”
I have to ask if this is a weak stab at these guys or were you too lazy to say the same for Massa, RÄIKKÖNEN, Kubica or any other guy? They are not that great either or they would be able to do something with their crappy car.
Cheers,
Rev
I watch F1 now because I used to watch it with my father, so I watch it now with my son. But it’s become a video game. The drivers shift without taking their hands off the wheel and without a clutch pedal. Now we have KERS which will almost assure that a non-KERS car will not be able to pass. The drivers have striped areas on the curves that allow them to “cheat” where in the “old days” if you didn’t make the curve you hit the curb. And the amounts of money spent are insane. I don’t think drivers who could really cane a car ala Nuvolari or Senna exist anymore in F1. Sorry for the cliche but the commercialism has removed all that endeared us to the sport. Same to be said for NASCAR, I’d much rather see Galaxys and Chargers going at it again.
Regards,
Ralph
I don’t know what you expect of these drivers. Do you really think that the best driver in a slower car could really beat a lesser in a faster car? All of these guys are good,and every aspect of strategy is so precise today that you don’t have a chance against the faster car. This isn’t like the days of Nuvolari when he could beat the more powerful Germans with his smaller, although better handling, Alfa.
Gary
I attended Istanbul Park at great expense to find that:
1 Public has no idea as to what happens in the race thus finds it dull.
2 Cars must have numbers to say who is who. Four RBR Renaults look the same thus one has no idea who is second, last etc.
3 PA system does not work, the noise simply blots out everything
4 I used my notebook to check race positions.
Without this I would have no clue as to what was happening. Why cant this be displayed
on a screen from time to time