“We have to understand why that is. If the weekend continues like it does
now [he was speaking on Friday night], we need to think about it.”
Spectators watch from the sparsely populated grandstand (Patrik
Stollarz/Getty Images)
The organisers of this place were already making a loss. How will they cope
with this year?
In theory, there should have been no better pretext to the German Grand Prix.
There was the feel good factor of the World Cup, Mercedes are the dominant
team, and they have two drivers competing at the front in Nico Rosberg and
Sebastian Vettel.
The problem for those two and for Germany is essentially that neither of them
are Michael. The man they hero-worshipped remains in hospital in Lausanne.
While Rosberg is liked, and has been building his profile through social
media, he does not possess the brilliance of Schumacher in his pomp. And
Vettel? His more guarded approach has not exactly endeared himself to the
German public.
It’s difficult to see the solution at this stage, as the Nurburgring faced
similar struggles last year. Lots of head scratching all-round.
The scars for whoever loses this championship will be bordering on
irreparable
While they would not admit it, it must have dawned on Lewis Hamilton and Nico
Rosberg that they are the only two candidates for world champion this year.
This totally changes the dynamic, and the potential fallout.
Both know that there will never be a better opportunity. The crying shame is
that it looks like double points will be a deciding factor.
Even though it was a joke, Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, hinted at what the
repercussions for the losing party will be.
“It looks like Bernie [Ecclestone] might be right, that the last race is the
decisive one. I would be very surprised if the audiences weren’t
considerably higher than they would normally be.
“The one who loses on double points will need some psychological treatment,
but we’re not there yet.”
For Rosberg, he will know he is unlikely to get a better chance. For Hamilton,
likewise it will not be lost on him that this is finally the perfect time to
get his second championship his talent richly deserves. It may all be too
much to bear.
Marshals running on the track was utter madness
We all watched aghast when Adrian Sutil’s Sauber lay stricken on the track.
For a good few minutes nothing was done, until three brave marshals ran onto
the start-finish straight and quickly moved the precarious Sauber away from
danger. In doing so it seemed they put themselves at considerable risk.
“I was really concerned for the marshals – really concerned,” Hamilton said.
“You come around that corner at serious speed and then there are marshals
not far from where you are driving. It felt like the closest thing I have
seen for a long, long time.”
Sauber driver Adrian Sutil leaves his car after crashing out (AP /Petr
David Josek)
It reminded him of the tragic accident involving Tom Pryce at the 1977 South
Africa Grand Prix, when a marshal ran across the track with a fire
extinguisher (the footage is too graphic to show here)
“That was the first thing I thought about,” he added. “I couldn’t believe it.
I was worried about the marshals. Fortunately, no one got hurt. I came round
the corner and [Sutil] was part way through his spin. I was up on the
Astroturf a little bit to stay out of the way.”
Where are the stars?
On Saturday, I was sitting by the window in the McLaren motorhome when several
Formula One drivers walked by. First came Sergio Perez (Force India). Second
was Giedo van der Garde (Sauber test driver). Finally, there was German Nico
Hulkenberg (Force India).
With the exception of maybe Hulkenberg, who was bothered for the odd
photograph, nobody made a fuss. They walked through the paddock without any
disturbance whatsoever. It is a similar story with most of the drivers,
perhaps excluding Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
They are barely mobbed. Again, with Schumacher, he would have this huge crowd
of people following him around the paddock. Where has all this gone?
It is difficult to think of easy solutions. Drivers should be gladiatorial, so
perhaps as Jon Noble, of Autosport, suggested, it is time to ban team radio?
That way they have to fend for themselves a little more. This should be one
of the pressing topics for discussion whenever this “seminar” at Maranello
eventually goes ahead.
Women have a place in Formula One, on merit
Susie Wolff put in a respectable drive in Friday practice, for which she
should be commended. However, because of her age (she is 32), it seems
unlikely she will ever get the chance of a race seat, particularly as both
Williams slots are taken for next year.
Despite suggestions that it was all a PR stunt, the Wolff experiment seems to
have worked for now. More importantly, it has shown that the idea of a woman
in a full-time race seat is far from unthinkable.
Sadly for the Scot, it seems Simona de Silvestro, the Swiss Sauber “affiliated
driver” is the more plausible candidate. Not only is she six years younger
than Wolff, but she brings considerable sponsorship and is being put through
a rigorous training away from the glare of F1.
Given how Sauber’s current two drivers are not exactly setting the world
alight, it may be worth a punt that the likeable Swiss will be in the sport
next year.
And finally… Fric was a tedious turn-off
Fric was the perfect story for the Formula One bubble. But listening to an
assortment of drivers saying, to varying degrees, ‘Fric will have a little
impact’, was fairly mind-numbing. In the end it did not seem to have an
enormous impact on the spread of the field, and the sport duly moved on.
This is the problem with F1. It spends so much of its time talking about
technical rows most ordinary fans do not know a great deal about or have
much of a care for.