Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Silverstone deal a triumph for commonsense
It is not by any means something that can be taken for granted in Formula One, but commonsense seems to have prevailed at last.
Silverstone’s deal with Bernie Ecclestone for the circuit to host the British Grand Prix for the next 17 years makes sense on so many levels and yet has been tougher to resolve than any of the controversies and scandals of recent years.
It is to be hoped that one of the longest running, and most tedious, sagas has now ended although that is probably too much to hope in a sport constantly making headlines.
“Bernie’s a driven man, he always wants better,” said Damon Hill, 1996 champion and president of the circuit-owning BRDC, with a resigned smile after announcing the deal on Monday. ”So I’m sure he will be looking to keep us on our toes”.
Ecclestone’s decision last year to do a similar 17-year deal with Donington Park from 2010 seemed to fly in the face of reason — not least because it meant a much-loved motorcycling venue taking over the Formula One and the MotoGP heading to Silverstone instead — and appeared unlikely from the very outset.
Silverstone had the road access sorted, unlike Donington where getting in and out on a race weekend can be nightmarish, and the track itself is a part of the sport’s fabric and history as the first to host a championship race.
The end result was as many had predicted, with Donington’s promoters unable to provide the cash to match their ambitions and a return to square one.
The paying F1 driver is back (but not you, Jenson)
Jenson Button has earned his rewards but he is still one of the lucky ones.
While the Formula One world champion faces the difficult decision of whether to go to McLaren on six million pounds a year or stay with Brawn/Mercedes for what still amounts to a salary of lottery proportions, other drivers are not so fortunate.
With the departure of leading manufacturers and the effects of the global credit crunch, next year’s starting grid will see the return in numbers of a once familiar species that has been almost extinct in recent years — the paying driver.
They may not be obvious, and all will have the mandatory super-licences, but they will be there nonetheless.
Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late triple champion Ayrton, has the name and the personality to get plenty of attention next year when he races for the new Campos Meta team.
He was also runner-up in GP2 last year.
Despite his attributes, he will still not be getting a salary from the team.
Who actually cares about Formula 1 ?. When global government has been announced and your all going to die from soft kill biological weapons.. dumbed down sheeple
How will Button rate as a champion?
Jenson Button needs at most six points to clinch the Formula One title in Brazil this weekend and become Britain’s 10th world champion.
If he does wrap it up at Interlagos, a debate that has been going on for some weeks now will only pick up speed — just how does the 29-year-old rate as a champion compared to all the others?
There are some who hold the view that Button will somehow not be a truly worthy champion, their opinions influenced by the Brawn driver’s inability to assert himself in the latter part of the season.
Some might argue that champions like Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna or Lewis Hamilton made their greatness evident from the moment they arrived in the sport.
They could add that someone like Button, who had to wait seven years for his first win and scored a total of just nine points in the 2007 and 2008 seasons combined in a dire spell with now-departed Honda, is surely not on a par with them.
Did he simply luck into a dominant car, thanks to rule changes wrong-footing the usual suspects until halfway through the season, or is he being rewarded for his loyalty to a Brawn team that some were writing off as dead and buried back in January?
There is no arguing that, after winning six of the first seven races, Button has struggled. He finished this month’s Japanese Grand Prix in eighth place and is limping agonisingly to the finish, his early advantage seeing him through.
Daljeet’s mention of Mika Hakkinen is pertinent. Don’t forget that the Finn had to wait an age (96 races) before his first win with McLaren. If Button (who took 113 races to get to the top of the podium) does take the title, it will be interesting to watch how he goes next year when he will undoubtedly feel more liberated. Not suggesting he could do a Mika and win two in a row but we might see a bit more of the real racer.
