Formula 1 1984 Monaco Grand Prix

Have you seen the movie "Senna"? In the beginning of the movie they show clips from the Monaco GP 1984. Senna almost beats Prost in his first season with a Toleman-car (not a good car at all) and could have won if they would have continued the race.

This was the race when everybody's jaws dropped. The race where people learned the name Ayrton Senna and remembered it forever.

If you don't have the time to watch this video then let me explain a few things for you.

This was Senna's first season and he had one of the worst cars. This team was almost like Caterham is today but it didn't matter to Senna. It was the beginning of his career and the only thing he wanted right now was to score a few points.

It rained at the Monaco GP in 1984 and it was very hard to drive but not for Senna. He was the best driver in the rain ever! Everybody was struggling and some of them even hit the walls and retired.

Senna starts to overtake the others like it was the easiest thing in the world. He even overtakes Keke Rosberg and Niki Lauda with this terrible car! He sets the fastest lap and almost catches Prost in the lead.

Prost is aware that somebody is behind him and fast as hell. He gets worried and wants to stop the race ("because of the rain"). We all know that the problem was not the rain it was Senna. And when they stopped the race Prost slowed down and Senna just flew by him in top speed. It was obvious that Senna would have won if the race would have continued.

Senna couldn't believe that he was on the podium. He waved his hand up in the air like he had won it all. That was the first time ever Senna stood on the podium in Formula One.

Now enjoy the full Monaco GP from 1984! Click on the video and be amazed.

The race is commentated by Murray Walker and James Hunt (the 1976 world champion).

Bonus information: Toleman was struggling with money and became Benetton, then Renault and now they are known as Lotus and has Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean driving for them.
Benetton won 1 constructors and 2 drivers championships, Renault won 2 constructors and 2 drivers champonships. Let's just wait and see when Lotus wins a championship..

The Red Bull Racing Story: 2005-2012

It's hard to understand how a team can be this successful.

Check out this video from youtube and you will probably understand the Red Bull -team a bit better.

It's quite boring when a team has this much success. Just like McLaren (the 80's and early 90s), Williams (the 90's) and then Ferrari (2000-2004). Specially if it's always the same driver who wins.

Schumacher won almost everything with Ferrari just like Vettel is doing with Red Bull today.

McLaren and Williams always had two great drivers who were equal. And in the end there was one champion. With Red Bull you always know that Sebastian is the better one and not Mark Webber.

Webber is great too but he is not a leader like Vettel and Schumacher before him.

I would love to see Räikkönen or Alonso with Red Bull. It would be much more interesting seeing Vettel fight till the end for all the victories and not getting them on a plate.

Next year is going to be great! Let's hope they don't choose Ricciardo to be the number two driver.

McLaren - Honda F1 Documentary

Yesterday I posted a McLaren-Honda/Senna light show. Here is an old documentary from that time period.

Footage with Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, Ron Dennis etc.

Honda is coming back to F1 as McLaren's engine supplier in 2015. It will be interesting.

Comparing all the team mates head to head

We have had 9 Grand Prix weekends so far. Let's see who has had a better season than their team mate.

First we shall compare qualifying. If the driver has not set a time at all or lost because of a penalty then the point doesn't count. I shall mark the better driver in red.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber

9 - 0

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso - Felipe Massa

5 - 3

McLaren

Jenson Button - Sergio Perez

6 - 3

Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen - Romain Grosjean

8 - 1

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg - Lewis Hamilton

3 - 6

Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg - Esteban Gutierrez

9 - 0

Force India

Paul Di Resta - Adrian Sutil

5 - 3

Williams

Pastor Maldonado - Valtteri Bottas

3 - 6

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne - Daniel Ricciardo

3 - 6

Caterham

Charles Pic - Giedo van der Garde

6 - 3

Marussia

Jules Bianchi - Max Chilton

8 - 0

And now we shall compare the races. If the driver has not been a part of the race or was disqualified then the point doesn't count.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber

8 - 1

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso - Felipe Massa

8 - 1

McLaren

Jenson Button - Sergio Perez

6 - 3

Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen - Romain Grosjean

8 - 1

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg - Lewis Hamilton

3 - 6

Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg - Esteban Gutierrez

6 - 2

Force India

Paul Di Resta - Adrian Sutil

5 - 4

Williams

Pastor Maldonado - Valtteri Bottas

5 - 4

Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne - Daniel Ricciardo

4 - 5

Caterham

Charles Pic - Giedo van der Garde

8 - 1

Marussia

Jules Bianchi - Max Chilton

7 - 2

So the best "qualifying winners" until now in order are Vettel, Hulkenberg and Bianchi/Räikkönen.

The best "race winners" until now in order are Vettel/Alonso/Räikkönen/Pic (everybody had 8-1)

Sound of Honda - Ayrton Senna 1989 - (2013)

Honda made this light show at Suzuka, Japan earlier.

You can hear the sound of Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda and see where his car would be.

It felt like Senna's spirit was there without his car. Absolutely beautiful..

Secret Life Of Formula 1 [Full Feature]

Another documentary you might be interested in.

1h 37min film on YouTube.

I don't know if you have YouTube on your TV or the computer attached to it but if you have it's much nicer to watch ;) Always better to be on the couch than sitting in front of the computer.

I'll post some more videos every day.

Kimi Räikkönen is loved in Asia

Here is a Gangnam style video with "Kimi Räikkönen" or his driver's outfit at least.
It's funny if you can picture Kimi actually dancing in this video when he is so.. you know.. Kimi.

Kimi has a lot of fans in China and specially girl fans. Why is that?
Do girls in China like blonds from the north or do they just like Kimi Räikkönen?
Or is it so that mostly girls like F1 over there and they choose to cheer for him?

When Kimi comes to the airport in China there is hundreds of girls screaming for him.
No other driver gets this treatment over there so why Kimi? I don't know the answer so I am really asking.
I would understand if he represented an Asian team or engine manufacturer but he doesn't.

Ayrton Senna was also really popular in Japan but that was because of McLaren who used Honda engines back then. The japanese were really proud of the success Ayrton had. But then again Alain Prost drove for the same team but Ayrton had more fans even though they were teammates. Maybe Ayrton was such a big character just like Kimi is today.

I understand that you have to choose another driver to cheer for if your own country doesn't have a driver in F1 but why do they mostly cheer for Kimi? There is nothing wrong with it I am just asking.

I was very excited myself as well when Kimi started in F1 back in 2001. I knew how unexperienced he was when he came to F1. It is quite strange actually because Kimi had competed in only 23 Formula Renault races before F1.. AND KIMI WON 13 OF THOSE 23 RACES! That's crazy!

He started his F1 career almost by accident. Sauber asked the Robertson brothers (Kimi's managers) if they could talk about getting a deal with Button who they also managed at that time. But Button was not available and Sauber really needed a driver after Mika Salo left the team.

The Robertsons told Sauber that he should see this incredible new talent they had found. Mika Salo heard about this and told Sauber that he knows who Kimi is. He is a new star and that he should grab him quickly.
Sauber and Ferrari used to test together back then and they gave Kimi a chance to test with them in Italy.

Kimi jumped in the Sauber and broke Barrichello's lap record after a few laps. A rookie was faster than Schumacher and Barrichello with a Sauber when they had Ferraris! This sounds crazy but it happened.

Schumacher asked "Who is he?" and they answered "It's Kimi Räikkönen a new Mika Häkkinen". Then Schumi looked impressed and answered "He's fast!".

One year with Sauber then McLaren grabbed him even though he had a 3 year contract. Money talks.. Then Ferrari got interested and got him after Kimi had lost several championships because of retirements. Kimi won his first race at Ferrari and became champion at the end of the year.

So if you think about Kimi's story it's easier to understand why he has so many fans in Asia and anywhere else. It's like a movie story! He was poor and started to drive, was a good driver from the beginning and now he is a millionaire world champion.

All great champions have great stories. I must say that Kimi is one of my favorites as well.

But I love F1 and not just one driver.. Even though he is great.

BBC: McLaren Documentary 2011

An interesting documentary about McLaren. Something to check out ;)

I'll post some more videos every day for all of you to watch.

FIA podium interview and post-race press conference - Hungary

OK! So you have probably seen the interviews after the race on the podium. But if you didn't see the press conference after the podium then here is a link where you can read every question and answer:

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/7/14857.html

At first there is the podium interview and after that the press conference. Unfortunately I didn't find a video of this but it's still something. Check it out!

What to do when the F1 summer break starts

I promised I would tell you what to do when the summer break starts. So here goes..

If you are an ordinary person who loves to watch F1 but you are not a hardcore fan then just enjoy the rest of the summer thinking about something else.

But if you are a super F1 fan like myself then get your videos ready! Buy, order and find DVD's, blu-rays or even VHS's that have something to do with F1 or GP-racing in general.

It depends where you live but where I live we don't really have any F1-shops or anything like that. I buy my DVD's etc. from eBay, amazon, dukevideo, secondhand stores and flea markets. When I am abroad I always look for F1-related shops as well.

Here is all of my F1-related DVD's and blu-ray's that I found today:

I have bought most of these from England, Finland and the Arab Emirates. I also have a whole bunch of VHS tapes from the 90's and 80's. Mostly season reviews and races taped years ago that I have now been transferring to my computer. In fact today I have all GP's from 1978-2009 on a hard drive. Mostly with english commentators but also some in finnish, japanese and portuguese.

So if I watch every single GP from 1978 it means that I have seen more F1 than any man in my age.
I have watched a lot already but there is so much to see! It is extremely interesting to see old races like that. It almost feels like it's live cause I don't always know the results. I just know who is champion that year etc.

If you aren't this lucky to have this many GP's on a hard drive or DVD's etc. you should get your butt to YouTube. You can not believe how much old GP's you can find there! And documentaries as well!

No worries! You will have plenty of F1 to watch until the next GP in Spa. I will also post some YouTube-videos here every day starting tomorrow so you don't even have to look for them.

I already posted the McLaren cartoons earlier so start from them and check out my blog tomorrow for more F1.

McLaren Tooned Episodes 1-12 in one clip

I don't know if you have heard about these cartoons but if you haven't then here is some Formula one you can watch with your kids.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are starring as themselves. The new episodes has Sergio Perez instead of Lewis but I haven't seen those yet at all.

(Click on the "YouTube"-logo so that you can watch it in full screen @ YouTube)

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix -review of the race

First of all congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for his maiden victory with Mercedes. He really deserved it after a lot of bad luck with the tires and other stuff trough the season. Is Lewis going to be a strong competitor for the rest of the season? Does he really have a chance for the title this year? I would say no but you never know what is going to happen.

Second thing I really enjoyed was Kimi's and Sebastian's fight for 2nd place. Even though Red Bull is a better car Kimi showed that he can beat Sebastian if the chance comes. I must say that I lost a little respect for Sebastian when he told his team that Kimi didn't give him enough room when he tried to overtake. That was rubbish from my point of view. Maybe Sebastian just couldn't keep his head cool like the Iceman did. It's amazing how Kimi never breaks under pressure.

Third thing that I wan't to say is congratulations to Williams for their first point of the season! Sad that Bottas had to retire for the first time of his career in F1 but I think the team gets over it quickly.

Fourth thing that comes to my mind is Grosjean. Sad that he could not take advantage of a good opportunity. I really had faith that he could be fighting for the victory.

Now let's see what I said earlier about the race and if it came true:

"I still think that Räikkönen is going to be higher up than Grosjean" YES

"in the long runs Lotus and Ferrari are strong when it's hot weather and Mercedes is not." YES and NO

-Lotus was good just like I suspected but Ferrari wasn't. Rosberg's Mercedes engine overheated but Hamilton won!

"Let's hope that we see a new winner tomorrow or somebody who hasn't won in a while.

Maybe someone like Kimi (last victory in Australia), Lewis (never won with Mercedes) or Romain (never won a race)?" YES 

-Lewis took his first victory for Mercedes.

"Which drivers are usually good in this race? -Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton" YES

-Kimi was 2nd and Lewis won again!

My race predictions: 

1 - Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus

2 - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

3 - Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

YES and NO -The drivers were all correct but in wrong order.

Fastest Lap - Fernando Alonso NO

-Fernando did the 8th fastest lap and Mark Webber was fastest.

Possible surprises - I believe McLaren will remind us that they are still in this sport.

-They did pretty ok but in my opinion the biggest surprise was the lack of Ferrari's speed.

Tomorrow I shall talk about the F1 break and how to survive without Formula One for a month.

2013 team standings/points after the Hungarian GP

1	Red Bull Racing-Renault	277
2	Mercedes	208
3	Ferrari	194
4	Lotus-Renault	183
5	Force India-Mercedes	59
6	McLaren-Mercedes	57
7	STR-Ferrari	24
8	Sauber-Ferrari	7
9	Williams-Renault	1
10	Marussia-Cosworth	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

2013 driver standings/points after the Hungarian GP

1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing-Renault	172
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus-Renault	134
3	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	133
4	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	124
5	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing-Renault	105
6	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	84
7	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	61
8	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus-Renault	49
9	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	39
10	Paul di Resta	British	Force India-Mercedes	36
11	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	23
12	Sergio Perez	Mexican	McLaren-Mercedes	18
13	Jean-Eric Vergne	French	STR-Ferrari	13
14	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	STR-Ferrari	11
15	Nico Hulkenberg	German	Sauber-Ferrari	7
16	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams-Renault	1
17	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams-Renault	0
18	Esteban Gutierrez	Mexican	Sauber-Ferrari	0
19	Jules Bianchi	French	Marussia-Cosworth	0
20	Charles Pic	French	Caterham-Renault	0
21	Giedo van der Garde	Dutch	Caterham-Renault	0
22	Max Chilton	British	Marussia-Cosworth	0