Happy Holidays

I want to wish all the readers of the Chequered Flag a happy holidays and a great new year, wherever you are this season.

It has been a great year for this blog and I hope to take it from strength to strength in 2009. I don't plan to take a holiday break per se, but depending on whether there is anything of interest to talk about!

Mo' Money

Money certainly remains the talking point with the business..err.. sport that is Formula One.

The latest is the spat created by Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, calling for a greater slice of the revenue. Mind you, when I first read reports on this, it was a case of the teams looking for it (di Montezemolo is the the current head of FOTA), but these seem to quickly turn into Ferrari just looking for it.

Toyota F1 president, John Howlett, has since come out stating that they were also interested in a great slice of the pie. No surprise there, since the Japanese manufacture has just announced profit losses this year.

One reason for Ecclestone's statement is, according to rumors in the media, an attempt to drive a wedge between Ferrari and the rest of FOTA due to Ferrari having a special deal. This deal is said to provide Ferrari with substaneously more money for winning than other teams.

Such a deal, while unsurprising, is not something I think I should be in place. Just because Ferrari is the longest running F1 team and is rich in history, shouldn't give them that such benefits.

That been said, its funny how the other side of the coin looks a couple of years on. Think back a few years ago, when there was serious talk of a new breakaway series. The FIA offered Ferrari the special deal and brought the marquee back into the fold. The result eventually started a domino effect that saw the end of the breakaway league threat.

I wonder what people who talk about FIA-Ferrari bedhopping will take on the twists and turns of the 'relationship.'

So really, the situation is what it is, because of the deal done with the FIA a few years ago. After using the 'pull' the Ferrari name had to 'save' the sport, one could say they are now trying to feed it back to the dogs to possibly, according to the rumors, split the unified front of the teams.

Although, I wonder how much credibility rumors of trying to put a wedge in FOTA are. Isn't a series with a unified front vital in such an economic climate?

Of course, when money is involved, lines always become more blurred.

The Futures Bright?

Last Friday, the FIA and FOTA came to an agreement on cost-cutting measures. It’s funny how when staring down the barrel of a gun can suddenly turns people who would draw this out till we are dust and bones into agreeable parties.

As for the changes, honestly, the jury is out for me.

In-season testing has been banned, with the sport taking a page out of Nascar’s book. The American series confirmed their own testing ban a few weeks ago in an effort to kerb costs. On the bright side, it should ensure that there will be plenty more action on a Friday for spectators to watch, given this will be their own test time.

On the flip side, I am concerned. What happens if one team gets a significant jump on the others? It has happened in the past and the only way they were reeled back in was via working hard on the testing front. That option is now eliminated. Will the sport resort to weight ballast like touring cars if this sort of situation crops up?

The engine unit must now last an additional race, meaning that we will see the same motor used for three races. Each driver has eight engines for the season, with four additional ones for testing. No mention of what happens if someone actually goes over that limit. Do they sit out the rest of the season? Granted, reliability has been quite good in recent years, but you have to ask.

For 2010, refuelling will be banned. Now this, I have some major concern with. Over the past decade, fuel loads have played an important part in grand prix racing. If your opponent is faster than you on track, you short-fill and hope you can pump in those fast laps to build sufficient gap. Tail-enders depend on heavy loads to try to bring them into play late in the race.

All this is now eliminated. Providing a driver doesn’t have an issue, there is no need to worry about someone throwing an exciting spanner into the works now. Does this mean we should know the results after the first few laps of the race?

With no fuel and longer equipment lives to watch out for, I am worried that the sport will become one of who can take care of their equipment best – not who is the fastest of them all.

The KERS system will not be mandatory for next year, although many will probably run with it. McLaren and Ferrari had expressed fears about the cost of it, but given that it will be mandatory for 2010, I’d expect everyone to make an effort to bolt it on. Whatever about costs, the end of the day one doesn’t want to be lagging behind in the development of it.

The standard engine issue remains an option, if only to have one cheaply available to the independent teams. This is a great way to make both sides happy. Standardised gearboxes and the sharing of information has also been talked about for 2010.

As for the proposed medal system, that is reportedly going to be put to the public, where I personally hope it gets shot down. It is a gimmick idea we just don’t need for the sport.

All this, on top of the technical changes for the coming season. It is a lot to take in.

The Phillies: Nascar Results

A little late due to the coverage of the Race of Champions, here are the 'Phillies' for the Nascar 2008 season.

For details on each of the awards, see the Award Categories.

Driver of the Year:
Winner: Carl Edwards
The Missouri native was consistently strong throughout the year. He took a season high nine victories in the #99 Ford Fusion and ran Jimmie Johnson to the final race. Despite the insurmountable odds against him, he never gave up - a testament to his never say never attitude.
He backed up his second place in the Sprint Cup with the runners-up spot in the Nationwide series. In 2009, he will be gunning for the double.

Most Improved Driver of the Year:
Winner: David Ragan
A simple choice really. In the hands of Ragan, the #6 evoked memories of when Mark Martin was piloting the car. Described as a 'dart without feathers' by Tony Stewart, even the two-time champion had changed his tune by the end of 2008.

Finished best of the rest outside of the Chase, the only thing missing from Ragan's CV is a victory. Expect him to be a Chase contender next year.

Rookie of the Year:
Winner: Vacant
Lets be honest, none of the rookies showered themselves in glory in 2008. The highest placed in the standings was Ragan Smith, who finished in 34th in the standings. The open-wheel invasion failed to establish a beachhead and quickly found itself in retreat.


Flop of the Year:
Winner: The Open-Wheel Invasion
At the start of the year, many traditionalists were worried that Nascar was going to see an influx of open-wheel drivers coming into stock car, thus depriving potential talent from breaking through.
However, as the year went on - they dropped like flies. Villeneuve never returned after an attempt to qualify for Daytona. Franchitti was out after half way through the year and Carpentier soon followed once GEM had signed up Sorenson for 2008. That left Sam Hornish Jr the last man standing.

Underrated Driver of the Year:
Winner: AJ Allmendinger
AJ would definitely get an honorary mention for 'Most Improved' of the year. A difficult start to the year saw him replaced with Mike Skinner as Red Bull evaluated the program. When AJ returned, he was a different man.
Growing from strength to strength, it was a major surprise to see him ousted at Red Bull. He continued to garner creditability when he took over the #10 ride. Allmendinger is still without a ride for 2009. It would be a crying shame for him not to be involved.

Team of the Year:
Winner: #48
The combination of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus has been the team to beat over the last two years and this year was no different. When the Chase came along, they were the best prepared. On occasions where things could easily have gone wrong, both driver and crew chief worked to make the best out of what could easily be a bad situation.


Most Improved Team of the Year:
Winner: #18
In the hands of JJ Yeley, the former championship winning team was mired well back in the standings in 2007, never cracking the top-20. The arrival of Kyle Busch and Toyota transformed the team back to winning ways. A poor Chase puts a slight damper on an otherwise fantastic season for the team.


Race of the Year:
Winner: Aarons 499, Talladega
The first race at the Superspeedway was edge of the seat stuff from start to finish. Who needed two-wide racing when these guys can run three-wide for the majority of the race. It was fantastic stuff and a perfect example of what the competition in Nascar can offer.


Surprise of the Year:
Winner: Mark Martin signing up for one more shot
The veteran will return in 2009 for one final shot at the elusive title that has eluded him until now. Despite running a part-time schedule over the past two years, the competitiveness level has never died from the veteran.
If he continues as such in 2009, he should easily make the Chase. With Hendrick's machinery under him, it is more than possible that Martin will write his own fairytale.

Overtaking Move of the Year:
Winner: Carl Edwards versus Jimmie Johnson at Kansas
Proof that second is never good enough for a racer. Edwards launched a daring slingshot to try to get passed Johnson. The #99 barrelled past, slapped the wall and just lost the momentum, allowing Johnson to slip past by. One can only applaud Edwards desire to win.

Controversy of the Year:
Winner: Goodyear Tires
On too many occasions, tire blow-outs played too much a part in the racing. The lowest point for the issue was at Indy, where the race was reduced to short sprints between yellow flags to get everyone home safe.

Race of Champions

The Race of Champions offered an enjoyable day of Sunday motorsport. The winter is always a dull time for motorsport fans as we wait for the engines to fire back up and the competition to begin once again.

Germany defended the Nations Cup. Michael Schumacher led by example, winning the deciding race against Ekstrom. Despite retiring from competitive racing at the end of 2006, he doesn’t look like a guy who is living it large. Lean, mean and charismatic as ever, the German clearly hasn’t lost that edge which has made him the greatest driver in the history of the sport.

The actual Race of Champions, which saw drivers racing for personal glory, saw a lot more in the surprise department. Sebastian Loeb came from smashing through some barriers to secure victory and Nascar runner-up Carl Edwards defeated Schumacher. Despite bashing up two cars, David Coulthard made it into the final for a best of three duel with Loeb. The Frenchman took victory be a mere three tenths of a second from the retiring Formula One drive.

However, while the racing was great, the coverage was decidedly second-rate from Sky. Everything just seemed ‘off’. They cut from driver promos straight into the action, hardly giving the viewer a chance to adjust to who was in the car at the time. On too many occasions, they didn’t even show up any titles of who was in which car. While some drivers are easy to spot, there seemed to be no consideration for those lesser known guys.

The interviews repeated questions over and over, with Hamilton’s dad been asked about his family’s holidays twice in two different interviews. Where is cohesion in it? But what really took the cake was the interview to Vettel, where the woman first stated it was Vettel’s first RoC, when it was his second. The interview was further botched up when she stated that Ekstrom had won it for the last four or five years, when he had the last two.

It was just an error-filled coverage on the part of Sky. When you get the basic facts wrong, that is just not right. Another example of the mess was claiming Edwards to be an eight time winner this year, when he won nine races. He was also classed both as a Nascar champion and a former Nascar champion. He is a Busch/Nationwide champion, which isn’t defined as being the ‘Nascar champion’. Or consistently stating that Sebastian Loeb won the rally championship at Rally GB, when in fact he went into that rally with his fifth title already wrapped up.

The first thing I was thought in journalism school – know your facts so you don’t look like a twat.

The overall track design was okay, although plenty of room for improvement. I can remember years back, watching RoC events and there was plenty of side by side racing. You don’t get that with the Wembley circuit. The layout of it left the camera more often than not just focusing on one driver. The thrill of watching this sort of racing is to see both in the same shot.

As for Hamilton, his gimmick race with an Olympic bike rider came to nought due to the conditions. Okay, these guys knew about this gimmick race for long enough. It was obvious; they needed conditions right for the bicycle rider to be able to compete. It doesn’t take a rocket science that the weather at this time of the year is terrible. Wembley has a roof, why not have it shut in advance to ensure it?

It is a shame not to see the new F1 champion actually competing. For the past two years, there has been plenty of talk about him taking part. I’m sure as a racer; Hamilton would want to do it. But as his dad said, the ‘politics’ intervened. Hmm, a situation where every driver is in equal machinery, I can only think of one reason for ‘protecting’ a driver. Just let the guy race. I’m sure he wants to. The fans want him too. It is a no brainer.

Busy Busy

Just a heads up, the Nascar 'Phillies' will be announced tomorrow instead of today. The Race of Champions is on today and for quite a long time - so I'll be tuning into that to cover it.

Also, in the coming week I'll be looking at the 'bright' future of Formula One after the FIA and the teams agreed on cost-cutting measures for the future.

Money makes the world go round

With all the talk about Sato and Bourdais trying to scrounge up funds to get a seat at Toro Rosso, it definitely reinforces the idea that heads clashed at the team over driver policy.

Back in May, the former driver spoke out about his desire not to employ chequebook drivers in the team. Granted, the economic climate has changed since, but given the amount of talk about the prospects having to bring money to the table, one can't help but wonder. (see: Chequebook Drivers? No Thanks!)

McLaren have joined Ferrari in calling for a postponement of the KERS system because of the cost of the system. The top-two could also have an ulterior motive for it, given that both would have had to delay work on their 2009 whilst others got the train early.

Of course, many in forums alluded to such when Ferrari made the call with the all too familiar Ferrari 'whinging'. I wonder how these same people will perceive McLaren's stance on it. I can see this issue splitting into two camps. I don't see those who already have a system in place willing to play ball.

Speaking of McLaren, team principal Ron Dennis has commented about Honda and it's Earth Dream concept, more or less saying what I have for two years now. So it has taken two years for people to notice this. And for some reason I don't have any official job in the sport.

Ending on a happy note, major props to Nascar's Jeff Gordon, who said he is willing to take a pay cut for the betterment of his team. In tough times, cuts need to be made. The biggest problem is, it is often hard to take back what is already given. People in all sectors are bitching and moaning about not wanting to even freeze their salaries until the skies clear.

With all this selfishness , Gordon's gesture is one I hope everyone, not just in the sports world, will take not of. Whether it be motorsport, football or any other sport - the money handed out has risen to a ridiculous level.

The Phillies: F1 Results

Below are the results of the first annual 'Phillies' for Formula One. These results are of my own opinion. Hopefully in coming years, there will be online voting for it. The Nascar results will be posted next weekend.

For details on each of the awards, see the Award Categories.

Driver of the Year:
Winner: Fernando Alonso
When you look at the drivers occupying the top seats in Formula One, none of them can lay claim to a perfect season. All of them had up's and down's, with some pretty ordinary performances on the way.

The same can't really be said for Fernando Alonso, who throughout the year proved why he is a two-time world champion. He consistently drew the most out of an inferior car and when the opportunity presented itself, took advantage of a situation to score two unlikely victories.

Most Improved Driver of the Year:
Winner: Felipe Massa
Many felt, including myself, that 2007 would be the best chance for Massa to win the title. He was settled in Ferrari and it offered him the best chance to get the jump on Raikkonen. He didn't and the rest his history. Two races into the season and many questioned how long Massa had left in his Ferrari career.

After Bahrain, Massa went from potential career also-ran to championship contender. Gone away was the ability to preform on certain tracks or to win from pole position. Even his wet weather driving improved. He still has a way to go, as the likes of Silverstone showed, but Massa is now a genuine title contender.

Rookie of the Year:
Winner: Timo Glock
An award that could have easily gone to Vettel, except the German ran a large portion of 2007, hence cancelling him out.

It took the GP2 champion a while to get going, especially compared to veteran team-mate Trulli. But, as one result built to another, Glock easily found himself a constant contender for the points. The highlight of the year for the young German was his podium at Hungary. Unfortunately, his name is more associated with wild conspiracy theories about slowing down on the final lap of Brazil to hand the title to Hamilton.

Flop of the Year:
Winner: Kimi Raikkonen
World Champion? At times you would be hard to believe. The Finn spent the majority of races anonymous, barring a few speedy laps. The contract extension announced at Belgium was a complete shock, given the lack of motivation from him. His reputation battered, there is no excuse for a lack of motivation for next year.

Underrated Driver of the Year:
Winner: Sebastien Bourdais
The four-time Champ Car champion endured a difficult season, like many drivers who cross the Atlantic divide. However, by seasons end, Bourdais consistently joined Vettel in the third around of qualifying. The Frenchman endured some rough luck despite the better form. The loss of a podium at Belgium, starter issues in Italy and a unfair penalty at Japan are just a few examples of where the Frenchman's luck abandoned him.

Whether he gets a chance to redeem himself is still up in the air as he vies for a seat at Toro Rosso. Bourdais recently admitted that finances as much as talent could determine if he gets the seat.

Team of the Year:
Winner: McLaren
It could have been so easy for McLaren to blame the Spygate fallout on their ordinary performances at the start of the year. Heck, ITV used it around the Spanish grand prix. The team kept their heads down and plugged away, closing the gap on Ferrari.

Most Improved Team of the Year:
Winner: Toro Rosso
It is hard to believe that this team used to be tail-enders under the Minardi name. The late arrival of the 2008 was the potent weapon that starlet Vettel required to show his raw talent. The team went from straight to straight, qualifying both cars within the top-ten on a number of occasions.

Victory at Monza for Vettel was the first for the Red Bull organisation. The icing on the cake came at the end of the season, with the team beating the sister squad in the constructors standings.

Race of the Year:
Winner: Interlargos, Brazil
Everything we wanted in a season finale and then some. I remember more bad races than good this season, but the final race of the season easily ranks in my top-five of all time. The seven point lead Hamilton enjoyed could easily have made the race a foregone conclusion. While the expected result occurred, we were left on the edge of our seats till the final lap for a Hollywood style finish.

Surprise of the Year:
Winner: Vettel's victory at Monza
With weather afflicted races, we have often seen results that are against the norm. But that doesn't take away from the raw talent on display at the Italian race. At times, he was in a class of his own, bringing back memories of what made Schumacher a wet racing maestro. I look forward to see what the young German can do in the coming years.

Overtaking Move of the Year:
Winner: Massa versus the McLarens at Hungary

As I said above, this was a season that we saw a more well rounded racing craft by the Brazilian. The start of a race is vital at Hungary, as like Monaco, overtaking chances are at a premium. It was a 'balls to the walls' move that unfortunately, didn't count for points at the end of the day due to engine problems.

Controversy of the Year:
Winner: Inconsistent Penalties
Whether you agree or disagree with the calls made, they were a major talking point. Myself, I agree with a number of them. But the main stickler I had was races decided after the chequered flag. Sending people home, not knowing if the guy they saw on the podium is a winner is not how the sport should handle itself. Once every now and then, that is fine and dandy. But the amount of times it occurred this year is unacceptable.

The ‘James Allen’ Award:
Winner: Lewis Hamilton at Montreal
The moment where the most basic of road rules went out the window and allowed BMW and Kubica to pick up their first victory. I still shake my head at the whole thing when I think about it. I still think the whole thing came down to a 'red mist' situation, given that Hamilton lost time with a vastly superior car on the day.

I will definitely miss the Canadian Grand Prix. The North American race often provided us with classic races year after year.

Honda Leave F1

Rumour became fact this morning as Honda confirmed that they would be leaving the sport with immediate effect. The manufacture will support the team as it looks for a buyer, but should none be found by March, we will only have 18 cars on the grid come Melbourne.

Of all the manufactures in the sport, I think it was an easy guess that Honda would be the first to go. Stretching back to the start of last season, I highlighted the issue of not getting a replacement sponsor for British American Tobacco. (see 'Honda Go Green')

The whole 'Earth Dream' concept was nothing more than a gimmick. I thought so then and I believe even more so now. Not having a 'real' sponsor denied the team valuable dollars to fund the team. Running a competitive Formula One team in this day and age requires large wads of cash. So, it is unsurprising, after two dismal years, the Honda chiefs said 'enough'.

But that wasn't the end of the Honda money drainpipe. What about Super Aguri? The Honda assisted squad set up against the uproar for Takuma Sato to have a seat. More money disappeared through the sink-hole before the team folded earlier this year. (see 'Super Aguri on the brink.)

The team quickly gave up on 2008, focusing all their efforts on developing a car that could compete with the new regulations. Honda's best opportunity to save some face after two woeful years and they decide to get out. Even if the team is to survive, one must assume that their '09 preparations will be hampered as they will have to fit a different engine to the shape.

You have to feel for the likes of Ross Brawn, or came into the team at the start of last year with high hopes of bringing Honda back to the top of the podium, or Jenson Button, who Honda fought tooth and nail to secure a few years back.

The decision by Honda comes as teams and the FIA meet to dicuss cost-cutting measures, including the highly conterversial single-engine format.

The whole team at Brackley now face a nervous holiday period as they await to see the future of their team. All expectation of making an impression scorched to cinders in the land of the rising sun.

Sayonara Honda?

Reports from various sites tonight are pointing at a shocking announcement from Honda tomorrow, which would see the manufacture pull the plug on their support of F1.

Despite the economic climate, the move still registers as a major surprise, especially given the decision by the team to effectively abandon this year in the hopes of getting the jump on everyone with the new regulations.

An announcement is due tomorrow from Honda.