Twenty-five.
That is the percentage of the grid made up of world champions. For the
mathematically challenged, that’s six drivers out of twenty-four with at least
one shiny star to their name.
Twenty-four is, of course, counting the HRTs who didn’t start the season-opener
in Melbourne. When they will get to start a race remains a matter of mystery.
Someone should start a betting pool for it.
I wouldn’t miss those (slow and sometimes
stubborn) moving chicanes though, especially if we have races like today’s.
Jenson was on the button throughout the entire race. Good start, quick
overtake of Lewis for the lead, skillful tire management throughout the race.
Very Zen from Jenson.
In fact, it was quite Vettel-esque, right down to the celebratory
finger-wagging.
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| "I tried to think of something new but I just can’t beat Seb’s finger."- Jenson |
Even with such a dominant victory however, there’s hope that the
championship won’t be as one-sided as last year’s, especially since Lotus
Renault and Mercedes didn’t really get to maximize both their qualifying and
their race.
One team that did maximize its race was Red Bull, the defending champions.
Mark gave the Aussies something to cheer about as he challenged Lewis for
the last step on the podium during the closing stages of the race. But If I
were Lewis and I planned to sulk in public after finishing third in the first
race of a 20-race season, I would rather have ceded the position to Mark for
the following reasons:
- Mark can finally have a podium in a decade of
racing in front of his home crowd (and they would love me for it),
- I can minimize the scrutinizing my facial
expressions and body language will be subjected to (seriously, it gets analyzed
far more than the Red Bull’s underside), and
- I can run straight to the loving arms of Nicole who,
by the way, was looking very fresh… I noticed because the director was very
generous with the WAGs coverage like I tuned in for them, but that’s F1.
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| There, there. |
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel looked high as a kite after bringing his RB8 up
to 2nd after starting 6th. At times, he even looked
happier than the race-winner. Conducted himself like one during the press
conference too with answers approximately 150% longer than Jense’s (and 300%
longer than Ham’s).
Some find it annoying. I find that, if you dig amongst the rubble, it’s a
source of pure gold. Ones like:
“They said we were in the shit, then other
people behind us, they were at the back of the shit.”
You know who found himself in the shiz, though? Michael Schumacher with a
gearbox problem. Baby Schumi even touched on it, albeit erroneously:
“… he was
very kind, he did exactly the same mistake I did a couple of laps earlier, so
that was good.”
Déjà vu, I tell you. Didn’t Schumi bin it in Free Practice 3 a few
minutes after Seb too? Only this time, Seb was lucky it wasn’t a race-ending
excursion. He was likewise lucky with the Safety Car as he jumped the Hamster
while avoiding what could have been a very, very messy tussle on-track. Can you
imagine, Crash Kid 2010 vs. Crash Kid 2011 (one of them, at least)? Crash Kid
2012 nominee I’ll get back to later.
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| They're magically delicious! |
But to be fair, champions make their own luck. He made what was arguably
the overtake of the race. I know some people won’t believe that, so here’s the
video:
In my best David Croft impression: NOTHING LUCKY ABOUT THAAAAAT!!!
Speaking of champions, two of the six made very commendable drives
through the field.
First up is Fernando who showed again why he is considered one of, if not
the best drivers on the grid by literally hauling his F2012 to 5th
from 12th. El Nano put in a gutsy drive to save Ferrari’s face
somewhat, unlike Felipe baby who just couldn’t stay cool. Instead, he opted for
a steaming hot Brazilian tango with Bruno Senna that ended both of their races.
Next is Kimi Raikkonen who made up ten places to finish in 7th.
I especially enjoyed the little Kimi vs. Kamui battle. Maybe Kimi should
deliberately screw up qualifying in the following races so we can have more of
that.
Didn’t I tell you Kimi’s fight back would be interesting? And that wasn’t
the only interesting bit from him. See, unlike his Badminton buddy Vettel, the
Iceman is a man of few words. The good thing about that is you don’t have to
dig as hard to find gems like this one:
Or these from his NASCAR stint. Deciphering them must be a pain though,
and on top of all the cuss words I would be getting, I wouldn’t want to be on
the other end of that radio.
Now, on to the guys who haven’t been F1 champions, haven’t been close to
being F1 champions, and perhaps, will never be F1 champions.
Harsh, I know, but not even four percent of drivers who make it to this
level get their signatures engraved on the championship trophy. Doesn’t mean
they can’t give us a good show. I mean, how crazy was that last lap?
Just with the two Toro Rosso drivers, it was already a battle, not just
for track position, but already for Webber’s seat it seemed. Boy, those two are
hungry. For a while, it looked like Jean-Éric Vergne, in his first-ever F1
race, was going to finish ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo. But Dan the Man,
in front of his home fans, said yes he can. And he did put it in P9, two places
ahead of his teammate.
Sauber was very solid as a team today with both drivers finishing in the
points. Ferrari take note. Scratch that, I’m sure they already have seeing as
the former outscored them by two points and is currently third in the
standings. If this keeps happening, Ferrari might get tempted to supply them
with B-grade engines.
Special mention to Sergio for a controlled drive to 8th after
being handed that gearbox grid penalty that saw him start the race 22nd.
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| A Ferrari paycheck would be nice too, no? |
Maybe the Ferrari Driver Academy member should already swap places with
Felipe but I’m not sure Peter Sauber would agree to that arrangement; and as a
Sauber fan, I say “Do not want!”
And finally, drum-roll please.
The first nominee for Crash Kid 2012 is…
Pastor Maldonado!
I know this may be a bit premature but yes, I am still bitter from RoGro’s
early exit after I made up that cheer for him yesterday. I couldn’t even
properly use it, except to will him out of the gravel trap.
And no, it’s not like Pastor crashed into Romain. In fact, Pastor raced
very hard today and was on course towards a 6th place finish that
would have earned him three points more than what Williams achieved throughout
last year.
That was until he decided to bin it. On the last lap.
I imagine he had his angry face on afterwards.
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| That is NOT a good look. |
To be frank, the entire Williams garage and everyone else back in the
Grove factory must have looked like that too.
