Don't drink and drive!

Schumacher simulates how it would feel like to be a drunk driver. 

What's gonna happen with Felipe Massa?

Everybody knows that Ferrari has given new chances to Felipe year after year. But this year might just be the last. They always ask him to step up his game and then he does for a few races and then the same careful Massa without motivation comes back. Are they just scaring him again to get better results or are they for real this time?

Massa used to be an awesome driver when he was with Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen.
It might be because with them he wasn't the number two driver. The Ferrari team let him win and fight and he didn't have to listen to "....is faster than you" (if you didn't understand what I meant then you can ask me in the comment section).

Now he knows that he can't be the champion because of his "status" at Ferrari. Who would have motivation after that? And why does this happen mostly to Brazilian drivers? Remember Rubens Barrichello's time as Schumacher's teammate?

I felt so sorry for him when he had to give his victory to Schumacher. Mika Salo had to give his victory to Eddie Irvine as well in 1999 but Barrichello seems so sympathetic and nice! He didn't deserve to be treated like that race after race. Poor guy..

Now I just feel sad when Massa clearly is a sympathetic guy just like his friend Barrichello. Hope he steps up his game for good this time and really shows Alonso that he still is a good driver!

Remember in 2007 when Massa and Alonso were fighting for the victory on the last laps at Nürburgring? Massa had been phenomenal but unfortunately for his sake Alonso pushed his McLaren into Massa's Ferrari almost taking him out of the race. Alonso won the race and still gave Massa a hard time for driving like an amateur. Massa was furious and Alonso admitted that maybe it was his own fault. I respected Alonso for admitting it at the press conference but I also felt bad for Massa.

The year 2007 was pretty good for him in the other races as well. He won three races, he was four times second and three times third. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen on the other hand won six races, he was twice second, four times third and won the championship.

In 2008 the luck was on Massa's side. Räikkönen retired five times that season which gave Massa a small advantage. He won six races just like Räikkönen the year before but lost to Hamilton by only one point. He thought at first that he was the champion and cheered. Then he realized that Hamilton had overtaken Glock on the last lap and got that extra point. If it would have been a tie Massa would have been the champion because he had six victories and Hamilton only five. Massa cried his eyes out..
In my opinion he can still be happy that he has come closer to win a championship with Ferrari than Alonso.

2009 was a bad year for Ferrari and for some reason they blamed the drivers Massa and Räikkönen at first for not finishing high enough. Later they realized that their car was not as good as it used to be.
They won only one race (Räikkönen in Spa) and the worst thing was that Massa got injured badly in Hungary.

During the qualifying session of the Hungarian grand prix a suspension spring flew from Barrichello's car on the track and through Massa's helmet to his head. After that he crashed into the barriers and spent a week in a hospital.

Massa came back in 2010 but it seemed that his speed was a bit lost from time to time. He got only 5 podiums and almost won a race. That race killed his motivation for good. Massa's race engineer said on the radio "Fernando is faster than you" and meant that Massa should let Alonso pass him (team orders were illegal in 2010). He could have won that race for sure if he wouldn't have heard that message. Ferrari got a penalty for that but the next year team orders were legal.

After that they have even changed Massa's gearbox only to lift Alonso higher up on the grid (if you change the gearbox you get penalized). So I understand that he doesn't have motivation anymore.

Let's just hope that some other team want's Massa if Ferrari doesn't and that he finds his motivation again. Because I really like Massa! Not my favorite driver but I wish him all the best. Stay strong!

Let's talk a bit more about the rumors

Earlier I wrote about the summer break rumors. So of course there is more! So what else is there that I didn't already talk about? I shall list them below in no particular order and start talking.

1. Lotus finance problems and Infinity Racing coming to the rescue.
2. Bernie Ecclestone gave Lotus money from his own pocket.
3. Pastor Maldonado will join Lotus next year and bring money with him.
4. Lotus took a step forward, got some new parts and they will dominate the rest of the season.
5. Alonso is going back to his old team which is called Lotus nowadays.
6. F1 will not go to Russia next year after all?
7. The Indian GP is also out?
8. Räikkönen's news about going back to Ferrari was just a negotiation tactic.
9. Vettel is moving to Ferrari.
10. Kovalainen's comeback.
11. Sauber's money issues.

Lotus wants to keep Räikkönen for the next season and it sounds very realistic that he would stay. Let's think about the reasons again: less PR and more time for himself, he is clearly the king of the team and the car can fight for high positions. But for how long? What if they don't have enough money?

The Lotus team has said in many interviews that they have everything under control but why doesn't Räikkönen get his salary in time or at all? Why are they promising him money that they clearly don't have?

Räikkönen has been nice enough to let them pay him later. Last year he admitted that he got his salary eventually but very late. They have gotten a lot of sponsors but still the money isn't enough. Now they will probably get Infinity Racing to help them out. I really hope so for their sake because if they don't then they can kiss Räikkönen good bye. I don't think that he likes to wait for his money all the time and listen to their promises that they can't keep.

Maybe Infinity Racing comes to the rescue and wants to buy half of the team? Maybe Lotus will be some day known as Infinity Racing? It wouldn't be a big surprise for me.

I read from a German F1 site called Motorsport-Total that last season they (Lotus) got help from non other than Bernie Ecclestone himself. He paid their debts from his own pocket just to keep them in the series. The problems are much worse than expected. It might even happen that Kimi makes a contract with Lotus but they can't even participate next year because of the finance problems. 

Don't be a fool Kimi! Please go ahed and choose Red Bull. They have the best car and so much money that they own two F1 teams and one F1 track! No other team can say the same.

If Kimi would decide to go to Red Bull anyway then Lotus has a backup plan - pay drivers!

Pastor Maldonado doesn't want to stay at Williams if the car is this bad. I mean the last year's car was faster than this year's. Usually the next car is faster than the older one.

Kobayashi, Kovalainen and Maldonado are the biggest candidates to join Lotus according to some papers and magazines. In my opinion they are not taking Kovalainen cause he doesn't have any sponsors that bring money to the team like Maldonado. Actually Kobayashi doesn't have sponsors either but he has money that he collected from his fans. I heard that he got about 1 million dollars and Maldonado's sponsors have more so that gives the advantage back to Maldonado. Let's wait and see what happens.

Some people (including the Lotus team) believe that Lotus is going to start winning races from now on. Grosjean even said that his maiden victory is just around the corner. I think that Kimi might win one or two races this year but they will not win the championship. It will be Sebastian Vettel again which would be very boring.

If Lotus becomes better and Ferrari doesn't then guess who would be interested to go back to his old team? Mr. Fernando Alonso Diaz of course.. or so the rumor says. Maybe if he gets canned from Ferrari but I don't believe this.

Some people say that Kovalainen has been negotiating with Ferrari. Actually he did last year but Ferrari decided to give Massa another chance. Have they negotiated further? Who knows? Kovalainen and Alonso used to be on the same team back in 2006 when Kovalainen was the test driver for Renault. They came along very well and are now friends. It would be nice to see him at Ferrari but I don't believe this either. He will probably replace van der Garde at Caterham next year and that's it.

If you wanna know more about Ferrari then the newest rumor is that Kimi's "Ferrari deal" was just a negotiation tactic. I think it was Kimi's own managers who started spreading this rumor. Or maybe Ferrari spread this rumor themselves to keep Alonso on his toes. You never know.

Vettel is moving to Ferrari. Nobody believed this right? Why would he change to a weaker team?

Sounds a bit stupid but did you know that Schumacher switched to Ferrari in 1996 even though he was in a winning car? He won 2 championships with Benetton and went to Ferrari even though they didn't have the same speed as his old team. Michael Schumacher predicted that this team is going to be good again in the future and he was so right about that. The team had won their last championship in 1979 and Michael won with them in the year 2000. It took 4 years but it was worth it because he won 5 championships in a row.

What else is there to talk about? The Indian GP running out of money but they will be back in 2015.

The Russian GP is also in the papers right now. They say that they are fighting for money and may not even get to host the GP. I think that they are going to sort it all out. No problems there.

Sauber is now also having money issues even though Gutierrez is bringing money in to the team.

It looks like they are forced to sell a part of the team or everything. We shall wait and see what happens with all of these things I just rambled about..

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.

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.

Sky Sports F1 Legends Mika Häkkinen

Sky Sports made a documentary series about F1 Legends in 2012. The episodes were all great but one of my favorites was Häkkinen's episode. Mika Häkkinen was my favorite driver after Ayrton Senna had passed away. Häkkinen was a friend of Senna's and also his last teammate at McLaren in 1993. 

Häkkinen almost lost his life at Adelaide in 1995. He was in a coma for a short period but recovered.

He won his first GP in 1997 and 2 world championships in 1998 and 1999.

In the year 2000 it was close but because of several retirements he had no chance against Schumacher in the end.

In 2001 he became a father and lost the interest of the sport. He gave his seat to Kimi Räikkönen after the 2001 season.

Today Mika Häkkinen is the manager of Valtteri Bottas. Some say that he is the next Häkkinen. Let's wait and see what happens with his career. But in the meantime you can start by looking at this video and remember how good Häkkinen was.

(press the YouTube-logo to watch this full screen on YouTube)

How to watch F1 when you are far away from home

Every now and then it happens that you are somewhere else when you should be at home watching F1. I always plan ahead situations like this so I don't miss anything.

First I have a F1 live streaming-software on my phone that I use in situations where I am sitting on a bus or working etc. Live streaming is good for free practice sessions or saturday qualifying but I could not watch a GP from a stream! I must see the whole thing. I could pay a lot of money just so I wouldn't miss anything.

It's possible to watch GP's from the internet by paying about 5 euros. But this works only if you are carrying a laptop and you have access to the internet. There are also sites that show the GP's for free but there are usually commercial breaks and signing in etc. I would rather pay the 5 euros to see everything without interrupting and with my favorite commentators.

I don't usually have a laptop with me so I try to find bars that show Formula 1 or check if my hotel has channels that show it. For example I saw the last GP in Hong Kong at a bar. First I went a few days earlier to a british pub and asked them if they would show the Grand Prix. The girl at the bar said that she didn't know and asked a guy named Adrian if they did. He said absolutely and I thanked them for the information.

Later I got worried because it has happened before that when I am abroad people always say that they are showing it and then they realize that they don't even have the channels for it. So I found a backup bar for watching F1 just in case the first one didn't show it for some reason.

Sometimes they just say anything to get customers. At Cyprus last year I changed bars twice and the third didn't bullshit me about actually showing the GP. In Turkey they said sorry we don't have the channels anymore and when people started to leave suddenly they said that they had the channels. Why would they do that?! Maybe they wanted to watch something else them selves?

In Hong Kong at the british pub it was a bit different. I went there early to get good seats in front of the big screen TV. But then the bartender asked me if I was there to see "the game". I said that I was waiting for the GP and that they had promised me that it would be possible to see it at that bar.

The bartender looked at me and asked "what GP?" THIS WAS A DISASTER AGAIN! But he offered to show the Grand Prix from another smaller TV without sound next to the front door.

I was not ready to sit there and try to ignore 50 crazy football fans scream next to me while I watch F1 from a smaller TV without sound!

Then I remembered the other smaller bar and ran over there like Carl Lewis! And then I saw a big screen TV showing F1 preview shows. What a sweet sight! The second I walked in to the bar the bartender turned the music off and turned up the volume on the TV. Thank God!

Sometimes they show F1 at hotels or even in your room. In London they showed the GP at our hotel restaurant and in Dubai I could have watched it in my room. Instead I jumped in a taxi and went to Abu Dhabi (taxi's are really cheep in Dubai).

It took me an hour with the taxi and it cost me less than what I paid from my apartment to the airport back at home. The tickets to the GP were about 340 euros. Damn! And I got the cheapest tickets there was!

The tickets allowed you to see the qualifying, the GP2 race (not a part of the GP2 series) and the F1 race. After all of this there was a concert with various artists including Paul McCartney. I just went to see the F1 race cause I didn't have time to go to Abu Dhabi 2 days in a row. The race was the main thing anyway..

The feeling when I saw my first F1 race live was incredible. I felt like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert (only I am a man who likes racing and hates Justin Bieber). "There's Schumi! that's Button! hey Hamilton! Alonso and Vettel!" Unfortunately Räikkönen was not at that race cause it was the 2011 season. But anyways I highly recommend it to all of you F1 fans out there.