Friday, December 08, 2006
Behind the Podium
'Congratulation on the championship', Ron said through gritted teeth.
'Well,' said Fernando, wiping sweat from his brow, and suddenly becoming very serious, 'the thing about you guys is that you make it so difficult because you keep developing your cars.'
This was not the reply Ron was expecting.
'You could be part of it' he said, trying to make light of the comment, half-joking.
'I'd like to be.'
Ron's smile disappeared instantly. Suddenly the room was filled with noise, more people started arriving, Kimi and Juan Pablo, officials and the podium representatives.
'Are you serious?' he managed to ask as Fernando was being ushered away.
'Yes' came the reply, and Fernando nodded, emphasising his seriousness with his thick Spanish eyebrows.
Ron waited a moment as everyone left the room, now quiet and still again. He heard the roar from outside as the drivers stepped on to the podium.
'Mr Dennis, we're ready for you now' said an official, poking his head back through the doorway, then disappearing.
Ron took a quick look around then did a Schumacher leap, jumping a foot from the ground, punching his fists in the air, and left the room singing to himself 'Back in the saddle again!'.
'Well,' said Fernando, wiping sweat from his brow, and suddenly becoming very serious, 'the thing about you guys is that you make it so difficult because you keep developing your cars.'
This was not the reply Ron was expecting.
'You could be part of it' he said, trying to make light of the comment, half-joking.
'I'd like to be.'
Ron's smile disappeared instantly. Suddenly the room was filled with noise, more people started arriving, Kimi and Juan Pablo, officials and the podium representatives.
'Are you serious?' he managed to ask as Fernando was being ushered away.
'Yes' came the reply, and Fernando nodded, emphasising his seriousness with his thick Spanish eyebrows.
Ron waited a moment as everyone left the room, now quiet and still again. He heard the roar from outside as the drivers stepped on to the podium.
'Mr Dennis, we're ready for you now' said an official, poking his head back through the doorway, then disappearing.
Ron took a quick look around then did a Schumacher leap, jumping a foot from the ground, punching his fists in the air, and left the room singing to himself 'Back in the saddle again!'.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Quote Of The Year 2006
I was just thinking, since we seem to be entering the awards season, how about a little competition of our own to round off the 2006 F1 season (arguably one of the more exciting seasons for a while)?
I propose that anyone interested can submit a contender for "Quote Of The Year" on these very pages and i'm sure we could find a suitable independent judge to decide the winner.
Whose quotes are eligable? Well, I reckon anyone recognisable as being involved in F1 in some capacity talking about anything, or any random person talking about F1 should cover most of the interesting, bizarre, ridiculous or hilarious things that sofaF1 might want to hear!
It might not work, but lets give it a go and see!
I propose that anyone interested can submit a contender for "Quote Of The Year" on these very pages and i'm sure we could find a suitable independent judge to decide the winner.
Whose quotes are eligable? Well, I reckon anyone recognisable as being involved in F1 in some capacity talking about anything, or any random person talking about F1 should cover most of the interesting, bizarre, ridiculous or hilarious things that sofaF1 might want to hear!
It might not work, but lets give it a go and see!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Plateau with a glass ceiling
In this week's Autosport Ron Dennis is quoted as saying some quite damaging things about the current drivers on the F1 grid. He is trying to justify his selection of Hamilton and says 'We reviewed the whole grid and when we looked at the drivers other than the top three we felt that they had pretty much reached a plateau in their careers and there was no one that really shone'. So who does this hurt? Button I think especially, but also Webber, Fisichella and Barrichello.
He went on to say 'I am distinctly unimpressed with the majority of drivers involved in F1'. Perhaps he is right to not be excited about some of them, but these remarks seem to be quite desperate, and quite deliberately ignorant of some of the great drivers around. Obviously, first off, he is still annoyed at losing Raikkonen. Then he fails to mention Kubica, Kovalainen, Rosberg and (coming soon!) Piquet (all of whom are wrapped up in other teams). Ron, it turns out, might have had no choice but to hire Hamilton - he might have walked to another team if he wasn't given a race seat at McLaren.
He went on to say 'I am distinctly unimpressed with the majority of drivers involved in F1'. Perhaps he is right to not be excited about some of them, but these remarks seem to be quite desperate, and quite deliberately ignorant of some of the great drivers around. Obviously, first off, he is still annoyed at losing Raikkonen. Then he fails to mention Kubica, Kovalainen, Rosberg and (coming soon!) Piquet (all of whom are wrapped up in other teams). Ron, it turns out, might have had no choice but to hire Hamilton - he might have walked to another team if he wasn't given a race seat at McLaren.
