Webber A Hotter Commodity Than He Gets Credit For

News over the weekend is that Australian Mark Webber will drive his eleventh season for Red Bull, the team he is currently in his fifth season with. While job security is great in such a competitive work place, is Red Bull the right place for Mark?

Unfortunately for Webber his value as a driver is moving towards the development side of his career. With a championship out of reach for the remainder of his career, Mark's options lie with a team looking to get the most out of an under developed car. So who would benefit from having the seasoned Australian in their seat?

The top name that springs to mind is Renault, the place he should have been years ago! While most people still hold hope of a Kubica return, in all likelihood, we have seen the last from what would have been a great career. I'm sure Robert wants to compete in the sport he has devoted his life to but the reality is his new life would be that of medications and impaired mental ability. It could well be time to let the Kubica dream go. This leaves Renault with a few choices. Currently in the car is Nick Heidfeld, a competent driver but word is the pairing of Heidfeld and Renault is on the tumultuous side. Renault is not getting the results it is after and fault is landing firmly on the German. Could Webber be the key to Renault moving towards the front of the grid?

After Renault, the choices are slim! Sauber just announced their driver pairing will remain for 2012, quite possibly a bad decision for them. Great to see Sauber getting behind Perez but securing a senior driver for development would have been a major coup for the team.

Ignoring Williams, who's relationship with Webber is forever tainted, that just leaves the back markers of Lotus, Virgin and HRT. While I'm sure Virgin and HRT could do a lot with Mark, they just aren't geared to use him. Virgin are using Glock well and he is signed on for the foreseeable future while HRT, well, who cares about HRT?

Lotus then become the only other place for Mark to place his helmet. While I'm sure Kovalainen is ready to lead the team he could always be left in the number two spot making room for Webber. Trulli is well past his best and, unless Lotus see no other option than to keep him, it's time for Trulli to retire to his vineyard. A pairing of Webber and Kovalainen would be a strong foundation to drive Lotus towards the front of the grid.

While his options are few, Mark should really start shopping around. Another year with Red Bull is just waisting everybody's time. Clearly the number 2 at Red Bull should go to a deserving development driver *cough - Daniel Ricciardo - cough*

Where Did Webber Go? Qualifying, Hungarian GP 2011

Talk about dull! It is one thirty in the afternoon, the day after qualifying, yet just thinking about it is sleep inducing! Is it because by this point in the season F1 gets predictable or was it really that dull?

I watched a replay late last night but decided to turn it off half way through. Picking up this morning where I had left off, I found I had fallen asleep during Q2 and didn't even notice! As Q2 was just finishing, I checked the places and found they didn't even need to run qualifying, everyone is starting from their grid spot as if their name had already been placed there weeks ago. It's like the office parking spot, everybody gets their place and the senior guy gets the spot closest to the door.

OK, so besides the coma inducing action, what happened? Well, Aussie Mark Webber fell of a cliff somewhere and landed in 6th on the grid next to Fernando Alonso who slotted into 5th. Not the best birthday pressie for the spaniard who just entered his thirties. Lining up directly behind Webber on the grid is Adrian Sutil who would be stoked to be looking into the back of the Red Bull come race time! Webber, some say honestly, blames his cars setup. What will that mean for the race ahead?

Nick Heidfeld is securing his retirement this weekend, being out-performed by his team mate Petrov who will line up 2 places ahead. With rumours this week surrounding Renault having no interest in Heidfeld next year, Nick isn't doing much to prove his worth to any other teams looking for a senior driver.

Massa finally out-paced Alonso and poignantly it's at the track that nearly took his life and career! What a bittersweet way to revisit a place that is firmly bolted to Massa's subconscious.

For the first time in his very short F1 career, Daniel Ricciardo hasn't qualified last! Perthite Daniel, out-qualified Virgin D'Ambrosio by 0.031! Boosted by Sebastien Buemi's 5 place penalty for hitting Heidfeld in Germany, Ricciardo will start from 22nd along side Liuzzi.

Going out on a limb here, I'm saying Hamilton 1st, Alonso 2nd and Massa 3rd. Somehow I think Vettel will find a way to ruin that prediction.

The Germans Go For A Spin Around The Nurburgring. German GP, 2011.

Sure as the sun rises in the morning and night falls in the evening, Mark Webber stuffed his start off the line! Who would have guessed? Urrr just about everyone in the known world! Bogged down and moving as fast as a Prius uphill, Webber held up his team mate while Hamilton and the 2 quick starting Ferrari all threw themselves at the first corner. Speculation, mostly from Australian bloggers, is suggesting Webber pulled the manoeuvre on purpose to force Vettel back down the order. With a 3 GP lead, others will need to keep Vettel out of the top points positions if they are to have any chance of catching him!

With the order settling in, Hamilton led Webber while Alonso worked his Ferrari to the limit, showing great poise to keep his car pointed in the right direction when the races villain (a soggy section of fake grass - lets call it Dr Soggy) jumped out to drag his car into the wall.

While Webber and Alonso examined the rear diffusers of Hamilton's McLaren, Dr Soggy claimed his first victim! A local boy by the name of Vettel! Dr Soggy grabbed Vettel's rear tyre and sent the Red Bull into a spin.

Elsewhere on the track, Switzerland could no longer be neutral as Buemi left German Heidfeld with no where to go but up. Heidfeld's Renault launched faster than the final space shuttle as it could no longer keep downforce on the front of the car. The lack of downforce has been attributed to the removal of the front wing.

The action remained constant when Webber took the opportunity to pass Hamilton for the lead. Lining up early, Hamilton used Mark's slipstream to regain the position with some millimetre perfect racing down the main straight. Hamilton's lead was short lived as Mark successfully jumped him at the first round of pits, letting Mark finally lead a GP for the first time this year!

The second part of the race much resembled the first part with Hamilton and Webber swapping roles while Alonso looked on maintaining 3 seconds on Mark!

Dr Soggy showed he had developed a taste for Germans and jumped out at 7 time world champion Schumacher. Schumacher, affectionately known as Grandpa by the local children, lost time and any chance of beating team mate Rosburg!

Webber showed the crowd why he will never be champion by dropping not one but two places during the next set of pit stops. Alonso, happy to be gifted the second place, showed his appreciation by driving away from Webber as fast as possible, creating a gap Mark would not be able to bridge.

Pit stops was the big feature of the closing minutes as Webber tried making up time by staying out on his warn soft tyres. Much to the Aussie's dismay, Both Hamilton and Alonso had no trouble making their new harder tyres work, sealing the finishing order with Hamilton taking the victory ahead of Alonso and Webber.

The race for fourth provided the most excitement. Vettel was trailing Massa but both had yet to use the required harder compound tyres. Both pitting with one lap to go, Ferrari made an error changing Massa's tyres, gifting the fourth place to Vettel and dissapointing Hamilton and Alonso who need Vettel to stop scoring points in order to catch up.

The in lap caused a bit of confusion as Alonso parked his Ferrari on the side of the circuit to save fuel. Webber was happy to car pool Alonso back to the pits in an image reminiscent of Mansell and Senna.

Rumours suggest Toro Rosso driver Alguersuari was at the event. While his name does appear at twelfth on the final results, no recalls actually seeing him.

Dr Soggy was unavailable for comment after the race.

Hamilton And The MP4-26 Are Expecting A Baby! Qualifying, Germany 2011

First watch this short quote from Hamilton after his qualifying run.



OK, so Hamilton was more excited than a 14 year old boy touching a boob for the first time but rightly so! Hamilton made love to his car like Ali G busting a rhyme. It paid off too, Hamilton out qualified Button by more than a second! Hamilton slapped his bitch all the way to second on the grid, lining up next to the incumbent Nurburgring champion Webber.

A distraught Vettel rounded out the top three, ending his 14 race run on the front row. Suggesting the change in the Pirelli tyres to be the reason for bridging the gap with Vettel, Webber said; "Looks like everything is coming up Milhouse, mate!"

News at the back of the field, Liuzzi will take a 5 place grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change. Fortunately for HRT, the penalty will mean HRT will be starting on the second row when F1 goes to the Hungaroring in a weeks time!

Michael Schumacher spent more time on the grass than on the road during qualifying and was lucky to qualify 10th for the race, over a second down from future champion Nico Rosburg. Concerns are now at fever point as to Schumacher's ability to race at the top level at his age. The workload inside the car with Formula 1's modern features is most likely to blame.

HRT dropout, Karun Chandhok, made his first race appearance for Lotus this weekend raising speculation as to why Trulli is not in his car. Suggestions that it is financial are yet to be confirmed while another possible answer could be with Trulli's criticism of this years Lotus. Did Trulli tell Lotus to take their car and shove it? Trulli remains on hand in Germany to help Chandhok.

Lastly, Australian Daniel Ricciardo failed to extract any performance from his HRT, coming within 0.02 of his team mate Liuzzi. These two will swap sides of the grid for the race due to Liuzzi's gearbox change. Can Ricciardo make a pass or two into the first turn?

Crack F1's predictions for the race, Vettel 1st, Hamilton 2nd, Webber 3rd.

Movie Review: Senna

Remember where you were when you found out John Lennon died? How about Princess Diana or even Jeff Buckley? I remember where I was when I saw Ayrton Senna die. It is a moment etched into my memory, easily recognisable and quick to recall. I was 14.

How do you say something about Ayrton Senna that hasn't been said? The Brazilian racing hero's life has been picked apart and put up for display since before his shock death in '94. From karting to becoming world champion, nothing about Senna is new but British film maker, Asif Kapadia, has done his best to bring Senna to the big screen.

Senna is bittersweet. Throughout the film I was on the edge of tears while supporting a grin as big as my face. No matter how you look at it, it's a film you already know the ending to. How ever many times you visit the story, Ayrton Senna still dies in '94. I felt as if I wanted to pause the film, just to save the grief of loosing him again. I sank in my chair as the film finally reached Imola, 1994.

Personally, I know most of the facts that are publicly known about Ayrton, I was interested to observe how other reviewers perceived the film. The start of the '94 season was a low for me in the film. The inevitable was fast approaching yet, another reviewer, a woman, laughed out loud as the film recounts the changes to the rules on car electronics. I was angry at her for laughing at one of the changes to Formula 1 that contributed to Senna's death yet, she didn't know it. She doesn't know Senna like I do. Yeah, it is laughable that as soon as Senna made it to Williams in search of the fastest car the rules would change. The odds were always against Senna.

Ayrton Senna was a man of many facets. While everyone loves a winner, Senna did a lot more to earn the love and admiration of an entire country. While talking about what made Ayrton great, I feel this film too easily became a chronological list of events. A roll call of what came next while interlaced with obvious observations. Senna was a hero to Brazil but what did that truly mean? If you are looking to delve deeper into Ayrton's life, Senna may leave you feeling flat as it falls well short of anything meaningful.

I enjoyed Senna, even if just for the excuse of watching Ayrton for 106 minutes. For the fan, this movie wont bring any new ground. There is absolutely no mention about the trial that followed the Williams team around for the next 13 years till its outcome finding Patrick Head culpable for Senna's death. The film almost solely focuses on Senna's time with McLaren and his relationship with Ron Dennis. Senna could easily delve far further into Ayrton's world.

This isn't the greatest documentary but it's clearly being enjoyed around the world. Who am I to argue with the world, if you can sit through a biography about a racing driver, jump right in there and give it a go.

Senna is out in Australia on August 11th.

Connection Issues.... Still

Shamefully, my net issues persist which is putting a chicane in Crack F1's updates. Hope to be back soon. So much to talk about from off-throttle diffusers to Daniel Riccicardo on the grid for his first ever race!

Till next time.....

Sweet With A Side Of Hell Yeah!!!

News in the last 12 hours is that Crack F1's favourite up and coming star and home town hero Daniel Ricciardo will be driving the remainder of the 2011 season for HRT with the exception of the new Indian GP!

Ricciardo spent the early part of the season as Practice 1 test driver for Toro Rosso, switching seats between the two Toro Rosso drivers.

Word is, Ricciardo has been lent to HRT by Red Bull to assess his race pace and ability at the top level of the sport.

Despite driving for back markers HRT, Ricciardo will need to tick several boxes to prove his worth this season. Red Bull will expect Ricciardo to consistently beat new team mate Liuzzi, the Virgin team and make life difficult for struggling Lotus driver Jarno Trulli.

No one expects the miracle drive Webber did at his first GP when Webber finished 5th in the struggling Minardi with cars retiring all over the place at the Aussie GP but be sure, Ricciardo will have to meet expectations fast for his future to be certain.

Watching Ricciardo at Silverstone brings a new depth and excitement for me. Yeah, so he is from my home town, Frank Williams says Daniel is awesome so listen up! The coverage might never show him but he will be out there, hopefully taking it to his team mate and those pesky Virgins!