3/28/09

We Interrupt this Chopper Blog to Talk More about F1


The Australian GP is this weekend. I'm an F1 fan, and this year's tech tweaks promise to make the '09 season even more exciting than last year. If anything, this year's smaller wings, return to slicks, 18k rev limits and brake-energy reclamation systems have only made the cars faster.

If you're a fan of the sport, then you remember that Lewis Hamilton needed 5th or better at the last race to win the '08 title by one point. The McLaren driver nipped the guy in fifth place in THE LAST TURN to do just that. This year The Champ will be defending his title in a McLaren that has so far proved woefully shy of that task.

Competition will be fierce between Ferrari, Renault and Ross Brawn's newly formed, Mercedes-powered F1 team. Honda sold their program to the legendary pit boss that helped Michael Schumacher win all seven of his titles at Renault and Ferrari, and now Mr. Brawn will rely on Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button to earn the points that eluded the Japanese behemoth during their most recent campaign in the world's top auto-racing series. I've been a fan of Honda F1 since their days with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna at McLaren Honda, so I'm pulling for Rubens Barrichello (Schu's subordinate but no less talented teammate at Ferrari) and Brawn GP this year. Who doesn't like a Cinderella story?

There's another great story about driving an F1 car on Jalopnik that lovers of all things motorized will appreciate. This video shows automotive blogger Nino Karotta churning butter in the cockpit of a Renault R24 car. Enjoy:



The Australian GP will be on Speed Channel late Saturday night, and I plan to put my current jet lag to good use by watching it.

1 comment :

Helge said...

Hell Yeah!! I lived a couple years in Brazil and was lucky enough to go see Senna race and watch races every Sunday. I also remember watching Barichello race F3.

F1 was very close to being just as popular as soccer, especially during Senna's years of domination.