Korean Grand Prix.
Oct. 24th, 2010 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whathoThis morning I set my alarm for five to seven and then spent an hour watching F1 drivers standing about in the rain and shrugging. Then they spent fifteen laps behind the safety car. Then most of them crashed. I quite enjoyed it. Mark Webber did his usual thing of appointing himself union rep and gathered some other drivers around him so they could huddle together and talk in low serious tones about how unsafe the circuit was, and then they cornered the safety car driver and told him how to drive. It was splendid. Mark Webber was the first one to crash, and I hope he said 'I told you so' to someone. Primarily to Martin Brundle, who whinged all morning about how in HIS day there weren't any safety cars (which I don't think is true) and they would've raced in the rain and spun off and died and bally well liked it.
The end of the race was a bit brilliant as well. Vettel was leading and badly wanted the race to finish, so he had a loud and pointed conversation over the radio - which the drivers know is monitored by race control - about how DARK it was getting and how DANGEROUS it was to drive in the dark and how they should end the race RIGHT NOW. But Hamilton in the McLaren badly wanted the race to continue so he could gain a few more points, so when his pit crew radioed him to ask him what he thought of the light levels he said that the light levels were FINE and he was practically being BLINDED by the sun's potent rays and anyone who thought otherwise was a FOOL, or something similar. And then Vettel's engine exploded, which was a pity. I love F1 and its low-level psychological manipulation. I love it when people try to win by exploiting loopholes in the rulebook, and by subtle trickery and low natural cunning. I think it's better than when they win on track by fair wholesome means and good sporting behaviour, and I don't understand those who say different.
Mostly though I love Michael Schumacher, who brought his brother with him to the circuit and they stood next to one another looking all Schumachery and great. It's been a strange first-year-back for him, and I really enjoyed how perplexingly laidback he was about the whole not doing particularly well thing and how he just seemed to be enjoying driving again and racing wasn't really an issue, and then a few weeks back he nearly squished Barrichello into a wall and it was just like the 1990s. I do know it's not a good thing to squish other drivers into walls at 200mph. I just have complicated feelings of nostalgia. And I wouldn't have set my alarm for five to seven if Michael Schumacher hadn't been competing.
The end of the race was a bit brilliant as well. Vettel was leading and badly wanted the race to finish, so he had a loud and pointed conversation over the radio - which the drivers know is monitored by race control - about how DARK it was getting and how DANGEROUS it was to drive in the dark and how they should end the race RIGHT NOW. But Hamilton in the McLaren badly wanted the race to continue so he could gain a few more points, so when his pit crew radioed him to ask him what he thought of the light levels he said that the light levels were FINE and he was practically being BLINDED by the sun's potent rays and anyone who thought otherwise was a FOOL, or something similar. And then Vettel's engine exploded, which was a pity. I love F1 and its low-level psychological manipulation. I love it when people try to win by exploiting loopholes in the rulebook, and by subtle trickery and low natural cunning. I think it's better than when they win on track by fair wholesome means and good sporting behaviour, and I don't understand those who say different.
Mostly though I love Michael Schumacher, who brought his brother with him to the circuit and they stood next to one another looking all Schumachery and great. It's been a strange first-year-back for him, and I really enjoyed how perplexingly laidback he was about the whole not doing particularly well thing and how he just seemed to be enjoying driving again and racing wasn't really an issue, and then a few weeks back he nearly squished Barrichello into a wall and it was just like the 1990s. I do know it's not a good thing to squish other drivers into walls at 200mph. I just have complicated feelings of nostalgia. And I wouldn't have set my alarm for five to seven if Michael Schumacher hadn't been competing.
