This admittedly dramatic sounding incident occured at the Friday free practice at the Malaysia GP. Sorry about the terribly music, I searched long and hard through down the corridors of YouTube for a version which hadn’t been dubbed over with shit music. But I couldn’t find one. So I went with the best quality footage.
Formula 1 Track Marshal Falls, Rolls Under Liuzzi’s Car
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Open Letter to Sasha Martinengo
Friday, April 1st, 2011After Sasha Martinengo’s massive April Fools scam, I got pretty angry and wrote this letter. I had also just found out my car had been impounded by the lovely people at Cape Town Traffic. Note to self, never write a letter in anger. I completely disagree with what he did, given his level of standing in SA with regards to Formula One. I took a beating in the comments and on Twitter, I’m not worried about that, however I did regret the personal jibes.
I have contacted him directly to apologise for getting so personal, which he responded to with “No worries,” etc. I don’t hate the guy, I mean I don’t know him personally so how could I. I still think he was way offsides and I do think his F1 preview show could improve drastically. Anyway, in the interests of transparency, I’ve not deleted the letter, but you’ll have to click Read More to see it.
Video Tribute to Ayrton Senna + New Longer Movie Preview
Monday, March 28th, 2011
The long-anticipated Ayrton Senna documentary/movie is due to hit UK screens in Summer, and we’ve got the preview. The trailer alone gave me goosebumps; the movie is probably going to reduce me to a quivering wreck.
Preview and a handpicked selection of magnificent Senna videos after the jump (more…)
Ciro De Siena interviews David Coulthard – swearing, haggis and a Formula 1 car doing donuts included
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011This weekend, the classic Formula 1 Circuit Kyalami played host to the biggest private motoring event quite possibly in the world. The globally massive Top Gear rolled into town with a veritable barrage of petrol-burning stunts, displays and entertainment. Red Bull Racing flew Sebastian Vettel’s championship winning car, along with David Coulthard, to bring Formula One back to Kyalami for the first time since 1993.
Jodi Scheckter, South Africa’s only Formula One world champion, shipped his 1979 championship winning Ferrari along with three other iconic racing cars to the track for a quick blast, Nick Mason, the drummer of Pink Floyd, flew down to SA with his tasty little McLaren F1, which is worth more than Equatorial Guinea. Almost. Eddie Jordan, former Jordan F1 team boss and all round lunatic swore a bit and Sir Stirling Moss OBE signed some hats. It was epic.
And so were the Johannesburg thundershowers, which arrived like clockwork to cock up the whole goddamn weekend. Clarkson, Hammond and May were barely five minutes into their performance for 10 000 eager fans when the mother of all rain showers flooded the theatre. After laughing hysterically at each other, Clarkson announced: “Can I just say that this is absolutely fucking horrible”, to which Hammond added “I think if we don’t stop I’m going to drown”.
And that was that. I then sprinted back to the Red Bull garage where I was due to interview David Coulthard for 10 minutes, of which I was allowed about four before being told to ask my last question. For the occasion Red Bull had provided a lovely lounge full of 1000 people getting hammered at the free bar and a sound system pumping out the latest Café Del fucking Mar. What I’m trying to say is the video I shot is incomprehensible but I’ve done my best anyway.
The entire rain-soaked trip was worth it to a) have a drink with Coulthard and b) hear a modern F1 car screaming just metres away from me. That noise is unlike anything on earth; it crawls under your skin and beats your eardrums into panic mode. It’s just wonderful. Coulthard only managed a few minutes out there (the car was set up for dry runs) and unfortunately threw in the towel because it was simply too dangerous. He did execute some very loud donuts right in front of me, and the footage is all included.
Lovely stuff.
F#ck off, I’m still boss
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Red Bull has given rise to what is possibly my favourite photographs of 2010. F1′s very own benevolent dictator, Bernie Ecclestone, turned 80 last week and yet shows absolutely no signs of slowing down/giving up. To mark the occasion, Red Bull Racing presented the maltese poodle of magnates with a custom zimmer frame.
Apparently Ecclestone accepted the gift in good humour, just before the Korean Grand Prix, which we imagine wasn’t nearly as fun, as one of Ecclestone’s adversaries, God, played havoc with the weather.
The zimmer frame has two can holders, a mock Red Bull front wing, and a mock F1 steering wheel, which reportedly has buttons for Viagra, nurse, Power, lawyer, accountant and his assistant Pasquale Lattuneddu.
Hat tip, gentlemen.
Ciro De Siena
Images © Sutton Images
Formula One Hungary: Qualifying results and preview
Saturday, July 31st, 2010
The F1 circus tent is currently pitched just outside of Budapest for the Hungaroring Grand Prix, or the FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2010, to give it’s official title. Unsurprisingly the Red Bull’s of Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber continue to dominate, with Vettel putting in a scorching Q3 lap to claim pole position, his seventh of the season. He was over half a second quicker than his Australian team mate and a good 1.2 seconds faster than third-placed Fernando “this is ridiculous” Alonso in the Ferrari. Full results when you click “Read more” below. There may be a bonus video in this for you as well.
Formula One will come to Cape Town, but not as a street circuit
Friday, July 16th, 2010
Following the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the nation is chasing other major sport events with renewed vigour, and Formula One is no exception.
Over the weekend, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone reaffirmed his belief that Formula One will come to the African continent this decade, and the leading city is Cape Town. Eccelstone told BBC radio that “We’ve been talking to the people in Cape Town…We’re talking about building a circuit. It’s probably about three years away. That’s what I would like to see. I would hope so. I’ve been hoping that for five years.”
South Africa enjoyed a healthy dose of Formula One from the inception of the sport. Cape Town was the first city to host an international Formula One Grand Prix in 1960 at the Killarney Race Circuit. The following year the saw the likes of Sterling Moss compete at the same facility but poor financial planning by the promoters lost the event for the venue.
The last time a Formula One race was held in South Africa was in 1993, at the Kyalami circuit in Midrand, north of Johannesburg. Kyalami also held a race in 1992, and from 1967 through to 1985. Prior to that, the Prince George Circuit in East London held events in 1962, ’63 and ’65.
The financial benefits are seemingly obvious; Formula One is the single most expensive sporting code per event on Earth, and returns to each track year after year. Mega-events like the Olympics come along once every few decades and place considerable strain on a city’s finances. It has been suggested that Athens 2004 played a considerable role in the Greek financial crisis which struck only this year.
The news spread rapidly and inevitably Dave Gant, CEO of the South African Grand Prix Corporation, was asked to clarify or even ratify the statements.
Alonso insures thumbs; insurer forbids excessive Playstation usage
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
Formula One can be ridiculous at times. Honestly, it’s like a petrol-burning version of Bold and the Beautiful. Obviously feeling a little out of the spotlight, Alonso has gone and announced that his thumbs are insured, to the tune of £9 million.
In a statement that could be straight out of The Onion, a Santander spokesman said: “Alonso’s thumbs are a big symbol as, apart from being essential when driving a Formula One car, they represent a sign of victory and that everything is under control and well protected.”
We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried. So what have we learnt here? Firstly, one requires opposable thumbs to pilot a 900 horsepower racecar. Well, probably. And secondly, Alonso’s chief concern, should he lose one of his precious digits, is not being able to display his happiness after winning a race.
Ciro De Siena
The Bored Identity
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Wooo-hooo! You should have been here last year!
I’m sorry, but is the world suffering from a collective bout of amnesia? ”The Bahrain Grand Prix was boring” they wailed. “It wasn’t exciting” they cried, gnashing their teeth. Boring you say. Boring? Well, fucking news flash, Formula 1 is boring.
Full Gallery: Every F1 Car on the Grid for 2010
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Team: McLaren. Drivers: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
The cars are looking sharp this year, we must say. It seems the liveries are getting more focused in line with the less fussy cars that have been mandatory for two seasons now. There’s loads of brand new teams and of course Lotus is back with (obviously) their traditional colours and USF1 continues to surprise and entertain us. We’ve also got every date on the calendar in a handy, um, list format.
Every car on the grid and race calendar after the jump: (more…)
