On Friday and Saturday I was thinking what to write about the Chinese Grand Prix. I don't like the Chinese Grand Prix. Usually it produces boring races on a boring Tilke track, and empty stands in a motorsport indifferent country. For some reason I had looked up the Formula 1 rules on FIA.com to see whether drivers had to start the race on the tyres that they qualified on, or whether it only has to be the same compound. I thought that maybe I could write up a blog about tyre allocation and have a laugh about another dismal Chinese Grand Prix. And then all my plans were ruined. China managed to put on a damned good show, and now I have something to talk about.
First the crowd. There were actually some people there! I'm sure that everyone will point out that all these people were bussed in for free and that no tickets were actually sold. But so what. If you can't sell tickets then you might as well give them away. Seems like a pretty good way to build interest in a sport where there was none to begin with. Hopefully, some in the crowd could work out what a good race they saw and be able to buy tickets next year.
And the race. I am cheap, so I don't bother to buy fancy tvs or fancy racing channels. Instead I watch the racing on the French version of TSN, RDS. The commentators are usually awful and generally never know what's going on. By about lap 12 they will start chatting about where they are going for Summer vacation. But, this morning they couldn't help but sound excited because there was so much to get excited about. There was passing; and for those who say that KERS and DRS make passing too easy, there were people defending; there were different strategies; there was drama before the start, with Hamilton; there was drama during pit stops, with Button; and there was drama right to the end with people fighting for position. All this despite the fact that we have not yet had a safety car this year(!) and we have seen no more than 5 drops of rain.
After 3 races I think we can say that Pirelli have done a great job. Some people might say that the racing is artificial. I would say "what would you rather have?" Racing caused by some artificially high degradation, or one stop processions with the engine turned down for the lat 20 laps.
So, China gave me plenty to talk about. Let's see if Turkey can match it. If not, then at least you will be able to read about my findings about tyre allocations.
First the crowd. There were actually some people there! I'm sure that everyone will point out that all these people were bussed in for free and that no tickets were actually sold. But so what. If you can't sell tickets then you might as well give them away. Seems like a pretty good way to build interest in a sport where there was none to begin with. Hopefully, some in the crowd could work out what a good race they saw and be able to buy tickets next year.
And the race. I am cheap, so I don't bother to buy fancy tvs or fancy racing channels. Instead I watch the racing on the French version of TSN, RDS. The commentators are usually awful and generally never know what's going on. By about lap 12 they will start chatting about where they are going for Summer vacation. But, this morning they couldn't help but sound excited because there was so much to get excited about. There was passing; and for those who say that KERS and DRS make passing too easy, there were people defending; there were different strategies; there was drama before the start, with Hamilton; there was drama during pit stops, with Button; and there was drama right to the end with people fighting for position. All this despite the fact that we have not yet had a safety car this year(!) and we have seen no more than 5 drops of rain.
After 3 races I think we can say that Pirelli have done a great job. Some people might say that the racing is artificial. I would say "what would you rather have?" Racing caused by some artificially high degradation, or one stop processions with the engine turned down for the lat 20 laps.
So, China gave me plenty to talk about. Let's see if Turkey can match it. If not, then at least you will be able to read about my findings about tyre allocations.
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